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- Sacramento, CA 95825
- (916) 929-9060 (tel.)
- (916) 929-9068 (fax.)
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Edward Freidberg
Mr. Freidberg’s rise to national prominence began early in his career when he uncovered
an unscrupulous orthopedist, Dr. John Nork, performing unnecessary surgeries in Sacramento
and won a number of six figure jury verdicts against him. In 1973 Freidberg obtained a $3.7
million court judgment against the physician and the hospital where the surgery was performed
(Gonzales v. Nork). This award included $2 million in punitive damages against the physician only.
Eventually Mr. Freidberg represented 38 Nork victims. These cases settled for $13 million,
precipitated profound outcries nationally for significant reform of the medical profession’s
peer review practices and procedures, caused the California Board of Medical Examiners to
revoke Dr. Nork’s privileges and caused the leading medical malpractice insurance carrier
in California to abandon writing any further medical malpractice policies nationwide.
The "Nork cases" were extensively reported nationwide in newspapers, magazines
and medical publications, generating editorials demanding that reform be immediately instituted
to prevent other Norks from victimizing trusting patients. Medical Economics featured the
"Nork cases" on its August 12, 1974 cover displaying the bust of Hypocrites with a black eye.
The majority of the issue featured articles about the Nork cases stating: "It was Edward Freidberg,
an enterprising plaintiff’s attorney, who ferreted out Nork’s background of fraud and fouled-up
surgery in 1969. Freidberg’s work culminated in the blockbuster Gonzales malpractice case in 1973."
The outrage generated by the Nork cases acted as one of the catalysts for insurance carriers to either refuse to
continue to insure health care providers or significantly increase the premiums charged, triggered massive
lobbying by the American and California Medical Associations, with doctors striking at emergency room
facilities and picketing the State Capitol to intimidate the California Legislature in 1975 to enact
a grossly repressive anti-consumer legislation known as MICRA.
In 1975 the California Supreme Court affirmed a legal malpractice award Mr. Freidberg
obtained which broadened the boundaries of liability of attorneys. This landmark decision
has been cited in over 140 decisions since. Smith v. Lewis (1975) 13 Cal.3d 349, 78 A.L.R. 3d 321.
Time Magazine in 1976 described Freidberg as "pioneering in what promises to be a busy new activity
in the field of professional malpractice: Big-money court cases against negligent lawyers."
His work in legal malpractice was profiled in a 16-minute segment of the CBS news program "60 Minutes"
in 1987, was featured in a lengthy front page article in the Wall Street Journal and
was chronicled in the
"Million Dollar Lawyers" by Joseph C. Gulden (1978, G.P. Putnam and Sons, New York).
Mr. Freidberg considers his forté to be meticulous preparation. The trial
judge who awarded $3.7
million in the Gonzales v. Nork case agreed, stating in his decision: "Mr. Freidberg’s
presentation proves the universality of the late John W. Davis’s proposition that cases are not
won by lucky accidents or feats of mental agility in the courtroom; they are won by preparation
and knowledge. (26 A.B.A.J. 898 (1940).) My opinion is corroborated by that of Dr. Whitmore, a
world authority on cancer, who was subjected to cross-examination by Mr. Freidberg for a day and
a half. At the end of this ordeal, Dr. Whitmore said, ‘Mr. Freidberg, if you can get a license
to do surgery in New York, I’ll give you a job at the Memorial Sloan-Kittering Institute.’ Has
any lawyer ever received a nicer compliment?"
Mr. Freidberg has tried malpractice (legal and medical), pharmaceutical, complex commercial and
most every kind of personal injury case.
He has tried to verdict or judgment 111 civil trials; 23 trials lasted two months or longer, three lasted over five months.
He has tried to judgment 23 arbitration cases (one lasted 76 days).
Early in his career he defended 13 criminal cases (11 acquittals).
Mr. Freidberg considers the right to seek punitive damages in an appropriate case to be one of the most powerful weapons
in an attorney's armamentarium. He has sued defendants for punitive damages in well over 50 cases.
He has tried 14 cases in which he sought punitive damages. In 10 cases, he obtained an award of punitive damages;
in one case, on the eve of the punitive damage trial, the Defendant paid six times the compensatory damage award to settle the case.
He has recovered compensatory damages, but not punitive damages, in another case and lost 2 punitive damage cases.
Mr. Freidberg’s million dollar judgments:
| Commercial Fraud |
| 2002: |
$7.1 million against a wealthy Sacramento real estate developer
($7 million punitives). |
|
Defendant's highest offer: $350,000. |
| 2002: |
$3.2 million against Panasonic ($2.5 million punitives).
| |
Defendant's highest offer: $1.5 Million. |
| 1996: |
$6.5 million against Weider Health & Fitness ($5 million punitives). |
| |
Defendant's highest offer: $15,000
with indication defendants would
consider a 250,000 demand. |
| 1991: |
$1.07 million against three individuals ($300,000
punitives). |
| |
Defendant's highest offer: 0 |
| |
| Legal Malpractice |
| 1984: |
$2.3 million against a Sacramento attorney ($870,000 punitive damages). |
| |
Defendant's highest offer: $380,000. |
| |
| Medical Malpractice |
| 1973: |
$3.7 million against Dr. John Nork and Mercy Hospitals ($2 million punitives
against Nork only). |
| |
Defendant's highest offer: $75,000. |
| 1986: |
$1.35 million against Chico radiologist Dr. George Rawley. (Punitive damages not sought.) |
| |
Defendant's highest offer: $0. |
| |
| Family Law |
| 2008: |
$1.24 Million against former spouse for fraudently secreting community property assets ($355,120 punitive
damages under Family Code § 1101(h). |
| |
Defendant's highest offer: $0. |
In addition to his extensive trial work in representing plaintiffs, he has defended dozens of clients, primarily
in commercial litigation.
Mr. Freidberg's appellate advocacy has resulted in a number of published
opinions. In the following cases he personally prepared the briefs and
orally argued the cases before the appellate courts:
|
California Supreme Court Decisions: |
|
1. |
Smith vs.Lewis (1975)
13 Cal. 3d 349, 78 A.L.R. 3d 321 |
|
2. |
Gonzales vs. Nork (1978) 20 Cal. 3d 500 |
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District Court of Appeal Decisions: |
|
1. |
Morrison
v. Townley (1969) 269 Cal. App. 2d 863 |
|
2. |
Traxler
v. Thompson (1970) 4 Cal. App. 3d 278 |
|
3. |
Hart v. Browne
(1980) 103 Cal. App. 3d 947 |
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4. |
Bardis vs. Oates
(2004) 119 Cal. App 4th 1 |
Mr. Freidberg was honored as the 2006 " Trial Lawyer of The Year " by the American Board of Trial
Advocates, Sacramento Valley Chapter.
Mr. Freidberg is listed in the peer review reference work " The Best Lawyers in America "
(Woodward/White, Inc., Aiken, SC) in the fields of commercial litigation, legal malpractice and personal injury.
He has been listed in this reference work since its third edition in 1989. Mr. Freidberg is the only lawyer
based in the Sacramento Valley named by "Lawdragon", the legal profession's newest publication, as one of the five hundred
leading plaintiff's lawyers in America.
He has lectured extensively at a variety of seminars and workshops on trial work and malpractice,
including programs conducted by the American Board of Trial Advocates, McGeorge School of Law, University
of California at Davis School of Law, California Trial Lawyers Association now
known as Consumer Attorneys of California and California Continuing Education of the Bar.
Mr. Freidberg earned his law degree from the University of California at Berkeley (Boalt Hall).
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