He entered private practice in New York City until 1942, and was briefly an attorney for the Securities and Exchange Commission in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C. in 1942.

He joined the United States Army in September 1942 and was in the Quartermaster Corps, including service in Europe during World War II.

[3] Following his military service, he returned to the Securities and Exchange Commission until 1951, when he became assistant chief of the appellate section of the Antitrust Division in the United States Department of Justice, in Washington, D.C.

[4] On March 22, 1978, Friedman was nominated by President Jimmy Carter to become Chief judge of the United States Court of Claims, to the seat vacated by Chief Judge Arnold Wilson Cowen.

[5] The first annual lecture on November 16, 2012, featured Chief Judge Frank H. Easterbrook of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.