Shaw R. Friedman
Top rated State, Local & Municipal attorney in La Porte, Indiana
Friedman & Associates P.C.
Practice areas: State, Local & Municipal, DUI-DWI, Employment & Labor; view more
Licensed in Indiana since: 1984
Education: University of Notre Dame Law School
Selected to Super Lawyers: 2023 - 2025 Details
Shaw R. Friedman is the principal attorney at Friedman & Associates PC in downtown LaPorte, Indiana. He serves clients in the surrounding regions, helping them with legal matters involving:
- Local government
- Wrongful Discharge/Discrimination in Employment
- Motor Vehicle including OWI and Expungements
- Immigration Law
- School Law
- Juvenile Law
After completing his B.A. graduating cum laude from Colgate University in 1981, Mr. Friedman went on to study law at The Notre Dame Law School, earning his Juris Doctor in 1984. He then passed the bar and was licensed to practice in Indiana where he has been in practice ever since.. He is also admitted before the United States District Courts for the Northern and Southern Districts of Indiana and the United States Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit.
A zealous attorney who aggressively fights for the rights of his clients, Mr. Friedman has gained extensive experience in local government law serving as LaPorte County Attorney for 27 of the last 38 years and he has also represented a number of other governmental entities including cities, towns, conservancy districts and a solid waste district. He has won jury trials in both state and federal courts. He successfully represented governmental entities in cases against the local electric utility including a groundbreaking case that stopped the utility's plan to close five maintenance facilities in its tracks - the first such case in the nation. He's also secured millions of dollars in rate relief for utility customers. Notably he represented the lead client in a class action where he helped 1,800 Hoosier families obtain adoption subsidies from the Indiana Department of Child Services. Furthermore, he obtained a ruling from the Indiana Supreme Court in 2020, guaranteeing the protection of employee witnesses from retaliation in unemployment compensation hearings.
Mr. Friedman has been peer-review rated as Martindale-Hubbell Distinguished* for his professionalism and legal acumen. He has also received the Longevity Award from the Indiana Municipal Lawyers Association for rendering dedicated public service for more than three decades.
Being a licensed practitioner for almost four decades, Mr. Friedman maintains professional affiliations with the LaPorte County Bar Association and the Indiana State Bar Association. He is an active community member and co-founded the Harmony House in 1999, a safe space for supervised visitations and monitored exchanges for parents and children and he currently serves on the board of Harmony House's parent organization - LaPorte County Family Advocates - as Board Vice President. He is also the current board vice president of the Swanson Center, LaPorte County’s community mental health center, a facility co-founded by his late father in 1969.
*AV®, AV Preeminent®, BV Distinguished, Martindale-Hubbell Distinguished and Martindale-Hubbell Notable are certification marks used under license in accordance with the Martindale-Hubbell certification procedures, standards and policies. Martindale-Hubbell® is the facilitator of a peer-review rating process. Ratings reflect the anonymous opinions of members of the bar and the judiciary. Martindale-Hubbell® Peer Review Ratings™ fall into two categories – legal ability and general ethical standards.
Practice areas
State, Local & Municipal, Criminal Defense: DUI/DWI, Employment & Labor: Employee, Employment Litigation: Plaintiff, Immigration: Consumer, Schools & EducationFocus areas
Employment Law - Employee, Employment Law - Employer, Labor Law, State, Local & Municipal Litigation
- 30% State, Local & Municipal
- 20% Criminal Defense: DUI/DWI
- 20% Employment & Labor: Employee
- 10% Employment Litigation: Plaintiff
- 10% Immigration: Consumer
- 10% Schools & Education
First Admitted: 1984, Indiana
Professional Webpage: https://laportelegal.com/shaw-r-friedman/
- United States District Court, Northern District of Indiana
- State of Indiana
- United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit
- United States District Court, Southern District of Indiana
- Member of LaPorte County and Indiana State Bar Associations since first sworn into practice October 1984
- Secured decision of the Indiana Supreme Court in the matter of Forrest Perkins v. Memorial Hospital of South Bend that protects witnesses who testify truthfully under oath from retaliation by their employers, 2020
- Have served as LaPorte County Attorney for 27 of the last 38 years. Other representative governmental clients include the Michigan City Housing Authority, Michigan City Park Department, 39 North Conservancy District, City of Hobart, Indiana and town of Michiana Shores, Indiana. Have previously served as counsel for the towns of Kingsford Heights, and Kingsbury Indiana as well as the LaPorte County Solid Waste District. Have represented numerous plaintiffs in the employment field in both the federal and state courts with state law claims of wrongful discharge and defamation and federal claims under Title VII, ADA, FMLA and other federal anti-discrimination statutes, 2021
- at 50th anniversary of Swanson Center, LaPorte County's community mental health center - recognized for board service since 1984 helping guide center through reorganizational bankruptcy in the late 1980's to become one of the more stable and solvent community mental health services in Indiana. Also, as a co founder of Harmony House in LaPorte, a safe have for supervised visitations and monitored exchanges - recognized in 2022 for 23 years of service on Family Advocates Board of Directors including service as Past President. Family Advocates serves as an umbrella organization for Harmony House, CASA (Court Appt Special Advocates) and CYA (Court appointed Youth Advocates), 2019
- Awarded recognition by the Indiana Municipal Lawyers' Association on June 23, 2022 for longevity award for public service along with three other city and county attorneys in Indiana. The award recognizes municipal lawyers who have had decades of service under both Democratic and Republican leadership establishing the ability to work across the aisle and serve elected officials of both party stripes with equal fervor and commitment, Longevity Award for Public Service, Indiana Municipal Lawyers' Association, 2020
- B.A. in political science from Colgate University, Hamilton, NY graduating cum laude, 1984
- Just celebrated my 39th wedding anniversary, married to my high school sweetheart, the former Greta Westphal, now Judge Greta S. Friedman, Judge of LaPorte Superior Court No. 4. I am exceptionally proud of my spouse's recognition as "Indiana Judge of the Year" as selected by the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute in 2016 for her efforts in creating our county's highly successful Drug and Alcohol Court. Greta just held her 20th commencement ceremony this past Monday honoring six new graduates who are clean and sober bringing to 82 the number of successful graduates from her program. Greta is so well recognized and appreciated for her work that she was unopposed for election in 2014 in both the primary and general elections and was also unopposed for re-election in both the 2020 primary and general elections. She served as a Magistrate from her appointment in 2008 until her election to the Superior Court in 2014., 2022
Selections
- Super Lawyers: 2023 - 2025
