He has argued that lawyers should be permitted to reveal information necessary to prevent death or serious bodily harm, that law professors' sexual relations with students should be recognized as unethical conduct, and that the lawyer's decision to represent a client is a moral decision.
It received a number of favorable reviews; in the Harvard Civil Rights/Civil Liberties Law Review, NYU professor Norman Dorsen called the book one of the few "monumental contributions to legal education in the past generation.
"[citation needed] Understanding Lawyers' Ethics, first published in 1990, is required or recommended reading in many law schools.
The ABA journal The Professional Lawyer called the book "thoughtful and eloquent" and "idealistic in the best sense of the word, pragmatic, but not cynical, and rich with practical examples.
"[citation needed] Among his many articles on lawyers' ethics is "The Professional Responsibility of the Criminal Defense Lawyer: The Three Hardest Questions" (1966),[13] about which William H. Simon wrote: "Suppose you had to pick the two most influential events in the recent emergence of ethics as a subject of serious reflection by the bar.
Warren E. Burger, then chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and later Chief Justice of the United States, was so unhappy with Freedman's position that he unsuccessfully initiated disbarment proceedings.