Joseph Friedman: The Profound Impact of Legal Advocacy
50 Years / 50 Voices: Learning law and changing lives is a commemorative volume marking the 50th anniversary of the ongoing Monash Law Clinical Program, a pioneering initiative in clinical legal education undertaken by the Faculty of Law at Monash University. 50 alumni of the Monash Law Clinical Program shared their story with 50 current students of the same program. This is an excerpt from the book.
Joseph Friedman’s youthful interest in a legal career was prompted by outrage over miscarriages of justice and wrongful convictions. Friedman got his first clinical legal experience while on exchange at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He encountered the Wisconsin Innocence Project. Friedman was not eligible to enrol in the clinic, but he didn’t let that stop him. He tracked down Keith Findley, the project’s founder, and quickly convinced him he should be a student attorney in the clinic. One of Friedman’s mottos ever since has been, ‘Just ask.’
Later in his degree, Friedman sought further hands-on experience and enrolled in an anti-death penalty clinic. Here, he was exposed to the broader elements of criminal justice reform, including strategic research and policy briefs. He recalls with admiration the no-nonsense attitude of the clinic’s supervisor, Sara Kowal, and her passion for death penalty abolitionism.
Read more about 50 years of Monash Law Clinics and buy 50 Years / 50 Voices here
Friedman explains his anti-death penalty advocacy with reference to English jurist William Blackstone’s ratio, ‘It is better that 10 guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer.’ One highlight from his clinical experiences in the US was working on Albert Debelbot’s case. Along with his wife Ashley, Debelbot had been convicted of murdering his newborn daughter, and the couple had spent more than a decade in prison in Georgia. Friedman worked on the case in 2020 and saw the fruits of his efforts when the couple was later exonerated and released in mid-2021. The court found the initial conviction was based on junk forensic science and that the baby had died of natural causes.
Admitted to practice in 2021, Friedman took a graduate role at Allens. He later served as associate to Justice Jacinta Forbes at the Supreme Court of Victoria. At the same time, he began writing and reporting on criminal justice and social issues. Over time, Friedman developed a broader perspective on the criminal justice system. He recognised that while significant resources are put towards overturning a small number of wrongful convictions, few resources are invested into rehabilitation. After all, most people are legitimately convicted but usually still deserve a chance to turn their life around.
‘We should be doing the best we can to make sure they don’t reoffend,’ Friedman argues. ‘We shouldn’t just be focusing on the five per cent of people who are wrongfully convicted. We should be focusing on all the people who might have been legitimately convicted, and doing the best we can to ensure they don’t reoffend, to help them, to understand what led them to commit their crime and to humanise them.’
Friedman became aware of Inside Time, a UK-based prison newspaper. After learning there was no local equivalent, he began developing About Time, the first national publication aimed at incarcerated Australians. Founded in early 2024, About Time now provides a voice for more than 25,000 incarcerated people. Friedman describes it as ‘a window into the concealed world of incarceration’.
‘What About Time shows is that there are so many different ways to help people in this space,’ he says. ‘A lot of people think the only way to do it if you’re a lawyer is through legal work. But that’s not necessarily true … the law opens various doors in adjacent spaces.’
Friedman describes his placement as ‘by far the most influential thing I ever did at university.’ He says he learned more from a short placement than entire semesters of study, as well as gaining valuable hands-on experience. Looking back, he views it as a baptism of fire that led him to develop a confident, can-do attitude.
‘There is such a range of clinics that there is something for everyone,’ he says. ‘The more experience you have in different clinics and different environments, the more it gives you courage to go off and do different things.’
Read more about 50 years of Monash Law Clinics and buy 50 Years / 50 Voices here
Get involved with Monash Law Clinics
Monash Law Clinics combine legal education with real-world impact, supporting access to justice while equipping students with practical, ethical and professional skills.
If you are a student interested in undertaking a clinical unit as part of your studies, explore the available clinical placements and elective options.
Whether you’re an alum, practitioner or organisation keen to support the clinics through hosting placements, partnerships, volunteering or funding, there’s a way to be involved. To learn more, contact Emily Collard, Industry & Alumni Engagement Manager, at emily.collard@monash.edu.