Nicole Friant
Pro Bono Counsel
Duane Morris LLP
30 South 17th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103-4196
USA
Phone: +1 215 979 1835
Fax: +1 215 689 4856
Email: ANFriant@duanemorris.com

Nicole Friant serves as Duane Morris' Pro Bono Counsel and chairs the firm’s Pro Bono Committee. Ms. Friant oversees Duane Morris’ firm-wide Pro Bono Program. She supervises and coordinates the firm’s delivery of pro bono legal services, including outreach to bar associations, public interest organizations, and business entities. Ms. Friant also works to enhance involvement by firm personnel and provide training for new attorneys and summer associates.

In addition to leading the firm's Pro Bono Program, Ms. Friant maintains a substantive practice in public interest law, focusing much of her work on child advocacy. Ms. Friant also serves on the firm’s Diversity & Inclusion and Recruitment and Retention committees.

A former attorney in Duane Morris' Environmental Law Practice Group, in 2005 Ms. Friant briefly served as an environmental consultant at the Green Restaurant Association, a non-profit organization. Prior to becoming the firm's first Pro Bono Counsel, Ms. Friant served on the firm's Pro Bono Task Force and Committee, and was chair of the Duane Morris Child Advocacy Practice Group.

Ms. Friant currently serves on the Board of Directors and is a volunteer for the Support Center for Child Advocates. In 2009, she was recognized by the organization as a Distinguished Advocate.

Admitted to practice in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, she is a member of the American, Pennsylvania and Philadelphia bar associations.

Areas of Practice

• Child Advocacy
• Poverty Law

Professional Activities

• Association of Pro Bono Counsel
• American Bar Association
  - Section of Litigation
  - Section of Environment, Energy and Resources, 2001-2005
  -Vice Chair, Public Service Task Force, Environmental Litigation and Toxic Torts Committee, 2002-2003
• Pennsylvania Bar Association
  - Legal Services to the Public Committee
• Philadelphia Bar Association
  - Public Interest Section
  - Law Firm Pro Bono Committee
  - Delivery of Legal Services Committee
• Associate Member, Delaware Valley Environmental Inn of the American Inns of Court, 2001-2005

Admissions

• Pennsylvania
• New Jersey
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
• U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
• U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania
• U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey
• Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
• Supreme Court of New Jersey

Education

• Rutgers School of Law - Camden, J.D., 1998
• Rutgers University, B.A., 1994

Experience

• Duane Morris LLP
  - Pro Bono Counsel, 2005-present
  - Associate, 2001-2005
• McCarter & English, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  - Associate, 1999-2001
  
• Superior Court of New Jersey Chancery Division, Atlantic County
  - Judicial Clerk, Honorable L. Anthony Gibson, 1998-1999

Civic and Charitable Activities

• Board Member and Volunteer, Support Center for Child Advocates
  - Volunteer Attorney, 1999 – Present
  - Board Member, 2009 - Present
  - Chair, Volunteer Committee, 2010 - Present
• Volunteer, Philadelphia Reads
• Volunteer, Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Eastern Pennsylvania

Honors and Awards

• Support Center for Child Advocates Distinguished Advocate Award 2009
• First Judicial District of Philadelphia Pro Bono Roll of Honor, Inception – Present

Selected Speaking Engagements

• Co-Presenter, “Ethics of Corporate Pro Bono,” Delaware Valley Association of Corporate Counsel, Philadelphia, December 2010
• Co-Presenter, "Working with Pro Bono Volunteers, " ABA Equal Justice Conference, Las Vegas, May 2011
• Co-Presenter, “Best Practices for Pro Bono Partnerships,” Orlando, May 2009