Nicole Friant

Conflicts and Business Intake Compliance Counsel

  • Nicole Friant
  • Phone: +1 215 979 1820

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  • Duane Morris LLP
    30 South 17th Street
    Philadelphia, PA 19103-4196
    USA

Nicole Friant is a Conflicts and Business Intake Compliance Specialist with the Office of the General Counsel. Nicole returned to the firm after a seven-year hiatus, during which she owned and operated an organic farm in far northern California. Prior to 2015, Ms. Friant served as Duane Morris' Pro Bono Counsel and chaired the firm's Pro Bono Committee. In addition to leading the firm's Pro Bono Program, Ms. Friant maintained a substantive practice in public interest law, focusing much of her work on child advocacy. Ms. Friant did child advocacy work as a volunteer through the Support Center for Child Advocates and, in 2009, she was recognized by the organization as a Distinguished Advocate.

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.

Areas of Practice

  • Child Advocacy
  • Poverty Law

Admissions

  • Pennsylvania
  • U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania

Education

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

Experience

  • Duane Morris LLP
    - Pro Bono Counsel, 2005-2014
    - 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

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

Honors and Awards

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

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
    - Secretary, Board of Directors, 2013 - Present
  • Volunteer, Philadelphia Reads
  • Volunteer, Big Brothers Big Sisters of South Eastern Pennsylvania

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