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Leon Friedman is the Joseph Kushner Distinguished Professor of Civil Liberties Law at Hofstra Law School and maintains a private practice in New York City specializing in civil rights, First Amendment law and intellectual property. A graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School, Professor Friedman's unique mixture of legal expertise and film industry connections have made him an invaluable member of the National Board of Review.
Friedman joined the NBR almost 25 years ago when invited by then president Robert Giroux. "I was always a First Amendment Rights lawyer, so there was a good connection with this organization," he remembers. "I was impressed by the fact that the group's first goal was to set aside censorship in films." He was elected President of Board of Directors in 1996 and served in that position until 2002. Friedman produced the NBR's Censored Cinema Festival in 1997. The program included screenings of five films including "Native Son," and "Last Temptation of Christ" followed by discussions with a panel of film and legal experts. He is currently the NBR's Treasurer and Legal Counsel.
Professor Friedman first combined his law background with the arts in 1976, when he was working as an associate and had recently published two books on civil rights. One evening he and two friends, Amram Duchovny and Harold Steinberg, were talking about what might have happened if Lee Harvey Oswald had not been killed by Jack Ruby. "We sat down to figure out what each witness might have said," Friedman recalled. Their efforts led to the play "The Trial of Lee Harvey Oswald" which opened on Broadway that year. Starring Ralph Waite and Pete Masterson, the show played to an audience as the jury of the trial. Friedman and his co-authors eventually sold the story and it was made into a movie starring Lorne Greene and Ben Gazzara.
One of Friedman's many landmark civil rights cases was for Rubin "Hurricane" Carter. He was the lead attorney of the case which turned over Carter's conviction. Friedman was featured in the 1999 Denzel Washington film "The Hurricane." Portrayed on screen by Harris Yulin, Friedman remains good friends with the talented character actor. "Harris and I had many conversations about the legal problems in the the case and he actually changed his dialogue in the script to make it more accurate."
Also general counsel for the PEN American Center writing group, Friedman represents various authors including Susan Sontag and Hayden Herrera, and teaches in the area of copyright and literary property. He also works with various musical clients such as James Brown and the Isley Brothers.
ALL-TIME TOP FIVE FILMS
- "He Who Must Die" dir. Jules Dasssin
- "The Four Feathers" dir. Zoltan Korda
- "Sophie's Choice" dir. Alan Pakula
- "The Last Tycoon" dir. Elia Kazan
- "Laura" dir. Otto Preminger
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