Jonathan Paul Friedland

Jonathan Paul Friedland

Attorney and Counselor at Law - Sugar Felsenthal Grais & Helsinger LLP
  • Business Law, Bankruptcy
  • Arizona, Illinois, New Jersey, New York
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Biography

I am a partner and executive committee member. I view my job very simply: to make money for clients whenever possible and to protect their interests at every turn. My transactional work includes serving as outside general counsel to closely-held businesses and their principals; representing private equity funds and others in their M&A activities; and structuring new businesses, business lines, joint ventures, and other significant commercial relationships. I regularly advise clients on a wide range of topics including fiduciary duties, corporate structuring issues (between shareholders, members, joint ventures, etc.), credit negotiations, general contract issues, succession planning, employee matters, and litigation. I have extensive experience in guiding companies and their constituents through a variety of challenging situations. represent companies in distress, their owners and boards of directors, official and ad hoc creditor committees, buyers, their assignees, receivers, trustees, and other stakeholders in bankruptcy cases, assignments for the benefit of creditors, receiverships, and out-of-court workouts. While I am not a trial attorney, my clients trust me in directing my litigation partners on such matters.
After law school, I clerked for a federal judge before entering private practice. I was an Adjunct Professor of Strategic Management at the University of Chicago’s Graduate School of Business for several years and was the first Clayton Center for Entrepreneurial Law Visiting Professor of Business Law at the University of Tennessee College of Law.
I have been profiled, interviewed, and/or quoted in numerous publications, and am the lead author and editor of several significant treatises, several chapters in other treatises, and hundreds of articles on law and business. I am also the founder of an online provider of continuing education, information, and business intelligence for business owners, investors, and their trusted advisors.

Practice Areas
Business Law
Business Contracts, Business Dissolution, Business Finance, Business Formation, Business Litigation, Franchising, Mergers & Acquisitions, Partnership & Shareholder Disputes
Bankruptcy
Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, Chapter 13 Bankruptcy, Chapter 7 Bankruptcy, Debt Relief
Additional Practice Areas
  • Corporate Restructuring, Insolvency & Special Situations
  • Mergers & Acquisitions
  • General Corporate Law
  • Commercial Litigation Finance
  • Portfolio Company Representation
Jurisdictions Admitted to Practice
Arizona
State Bar of Arizona
ID Number: 16500
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Illinois
Supreme Court of Illinois
ID Number: 6257902
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New Jersey
New Jersey Courts
ID Number: 015631994
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New York
New York State Office of Court Administration
ID Number: 2730612
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Professional Experience
Partner
Sugar Felsenthal Grais & Helsinger LLP
- Current
Partner
Levenfeld Pearlstein, LLC
-
Adjunct Professor of Strategic Management
University of Chicago Graduate School of Business
-
Co-taught (with James H.M. Sprayregen) course titled “Failure – Grave to Cradle Corporate Restructuring.”
Partner
Kirkland & Ellis LLP
-
Visiting Professor
University of Tennessee College of Law
-
Inaugural “Clayton Center for Entrepreneurial Law Visiting Professor”. Taught courses on corporate law (covering, among other topics, entity formation, fiduciary duties, securities regulation, and mergers and acquisitions) and chapter 11 restructurings.
Associate
Schiff Hardin LLP
-
United States Bankruptcy Court, Northern District of Illinois
Law Clerk
-
Education
University of Pennsylvania Law School
J.D. (1994)
-
University of Pennsylvania Law School Logo
State University of New York - Albany
B.S. (1991)
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Honors: Magna Cum Laude
Activities: Tau Epsilon Pi (social fraternity), member Pi Sigma Epsilon (business fraternity), member and President Informal Advisor to High School Student Government
State University of New York - Albany Logo
Awards
Illinois Super Lawyer
Law & Politics Magazine
This distinction is held by five percent of Illinois attorneys; attorneys who earned this distinction in 2004 had an average of 27 years of experience and were nominated by other attorneys who were asked to “name the best lawyers they had personally observed in action.
AV Preeminent
Martindale-Hubbell
This is the highest possible rating, awarded to less than 14% of all U.S. attorneys.
Leading Lawyer
Illinois Leading Lawyer Network
Bankruptcy & Workout Law: Commercial; Creditor’s Rights/Commercial Collections Law, Illinois Leading Lawyer Network
LawDragon 500 Finalist
LawDragon
Superb
AVVO
(10 out of 10)
Professional Associations
United States Courts of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
Current
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District of Arizona
Current
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Northern District of Illinois
Current
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Northern District of Indiana
Current
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District of New Jersey
Current
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American Bankruptcy Institute
Director
Current
Activities: Served as co-executive editor of its flagship publication, the ABI JOURNAL
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Association for Corporate Growth and Turnaround Management Association
Member
Current
Activities: Former education co-chair of the Chicago/Midwest chapter
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National Association of Federal Equity Receivers
Associate Member
Current
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Horace Rumpole Inn of Court
Retired Member
Current
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Illinois State Bar
Member
- Current
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New York State Bar  # 2730612
Member
- Current
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Arizona State Bar
Member
- Current
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New Jersey State Bar
Member
- Current
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Publications
Articles & Publications
Chapter 11-101: The Book
American Bankruptcy Institute
Commercial Bankruptcy Litigation
Thomson/West
Norton Bankruptcy Law and Practice
Thomson/West
Strategic Alternatives For and Against Distressed Businesses
Thomson/West
“Financing a Chapter 11 Case: Debtor in Possession Financing,” REORGANIZING FAILING BUSINESSES (Third Edition)
American Bar Association
“Fraudulent Transfers,” ASSET PROTECTION PLANNING
Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education
“Going Out of Business Sales,” BUSINESS BANKRUPTCY ACQUISITIONS
American Bankruptcy Institute
“Representing the Chapter 11 Debtor,” BUSINESS BANKRUPTCY PRACTICE
Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education
“Representing the Unsecured Creditor,” BUSINESS BANKRUPTCY PRACTICE
Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education
Speaking Engagements
The Effective Director, Breakfast Meeting, Chicago, Illinois
Private Director Association
Litigation Funding in the Bankruptcy Space, 12th Annual Credit & Bankruptcy Symposium, Uncasville, CT
American Bankruptcy Institute
NYIC/IFA Northeast Joint Shark Tank Event
New York Institute of Credit & International Factoring Association
What Services Do Restructuring Attorneys and Bankers Need from CPAs and Consultants?, Allinial Global Advisory Services Forum
Financial Advisor’s Toolbox, 29th Annual Bankruptcy & Restructuring Conference
Association of Insolvency and Restructuring Advisors (AIRA)
Use of Turnaround Professionals in Fraudulent Conveyances and Other Avoidance Actions, Chicago Spring Meeting, Chicago, Illinois
Commercial Law Leage of America
Finance and Accounting Primer Workshop, Joint TMA/MBBI/CBA/FEI/RMA Event
TMA, MBBI, CBA, FEI, RMA
Overview of Commercial Non-Bankruptcy Alternative Remedies to Bankruptcy, CBA Bankruptcy Committee/YLS Committee Joint Seminar, Chicago, Illinois
Chicago Bar Association
Intercreditor Agreements & Their Impact on the Chapter 11 Process, 31st Midwestern Bankruptcy Institute
ABI/UMKC
M&A Current Market Trends & Best Practices, 2011 Annual Conference
MBBI
Triage for the Financially Distressed Business, ABA Annual Meeeting
American Bar Association
The Death of Deepening Insolvency? Corporate Governance for Troubled Companies after the Delaware Cases, American Bankruptcy Institute Annual Spring Meeting
American Bankruptcy Institute
The Perils of Advising the Board of a Troubled Company, 9th Annual Symposium
Turnaround Management Association - Toronto Chapter
Directors and Officers in the Zone
University of Tennessee Law School
Nuts & Bolts of Bankruptcy, Annual Spring Meeting
American Bankruptcy Institute
Chapter 11 Open Forum (Individual Chapter 11s, Small Business Cases, Recent Developments), 18th Annual Norton Bankruptcy Litigation Institution II
Standing on the Edge: Protecting Directors and Officers in Preparing for and Implementing a Chapter 11 Case, St. John’s University School of Law New Development Lecture Series
St. John's University School of Law
Expanded Role for the U.S. Trustee and Financial Contracts Modernization, Business Bankruptcy III Webinar Conference
ABI
Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Prevention Act: Overview of Important Developments and Potential Impact on Corporate Restructurings Under the Bankruptcy Code, State Bar of Arizona Annual Convention
Arizona State Bar
Nuts & Bolts of Bankruptcy, Winter Leadership Conference, American Bankruptcy Institute
American Bankruptcy Institute
Nuts & Bolts of Bankruptcy, Winter Leadership Conference
American Bankruptcy Institute
Indemnity of Professionals & Third Party Releases, 16th Annual Horton Bankruptcy Litigation Institute II
Executory Contracts, 16th Annual Horton Bankruptcy Litigation Institute II
Nuts & Bolts of Bankruptcy, Winter Leadership Conference
American Bankruptcy Institute
Asset Protection Trusts as a Wealth Preservation Strategy, Annual Conference
Insol International
Overview of the Role of the Debtor’s Counsel in U.S. Financial Restructurings, The Mitsubishi Research Institute Delegation, As Guest of the International Relations Committee of the Turnaround Management Association
Accounts Receivable and Retainer Management: Lessons from Pillowtex, 21st Annual Meeting
American Bankruptcy Institute
The Lifecycle of Distressed Business, Kirkland Institute of Restructuring Training
Examiners and Trustees in Chapter 11, Kirkland Institute of Restructuring Training
Websites & Blogs
Website
Website
Blog
Social Media
Contact & Map
SUGAR FELSENTHAL GRAIS & HELSINGER LLP
30 N LASALLE FL 30
CHICAGO, IL 60602
Telephone: (312) 704-2770
Monday: Open 24 hours
Tuesday: Open 24 hours
Wednesday: Open 24 hours
Thursday: Open 24 hours (Today)
Friday: Open 24 hours
Saturday: Open 24 hours
Sunday: Open 24 hours