Jonathan P. Friedland

Jonathan Friedland is a partner in Levenfeld Pearlstein’s Corporate Practice Group.

Jonathan’s corporate work includes serving as outside general counsel to a number of closely held businesses and their principals and a robust practice representing private equity funds and others in their M&A activities. The wide range of corporate issues he advises clients on include: fiduciary duties; structuring issues; credit negotiations; general contract issues; and employee matters.

Jonathan also leads the firm’s Restructuring & Insolvency Service Group. He has extensive experience in guiding companies and their constituents through a variety of financially challenging situations. He represents banks, debtors, official and ad hoc creditor committees, and other stakeholders in bankruptcy cases, assignments for the benefit of creditors, receiverships, and out-of-court workouts. He is lead author of Strategic Alternatives for Distressed Businesses, an 800 page treatise. He has litigated the full array of matters that arise in bankruptcy cases, including involuntary, discharge, dismissal, lift stay, preference, fraudulent conveyance, equitable subordination, substantive consolidation, and confirmation issues. Jonathan is lead author of Commercial Bankruptcy Litigation, a 1500 page treatise.

Jonathan’s chapter 11 debtor representations have included: Hydraulic Technologies, Inc (Ohio-based heavy manufacturer); Musicland Corporation (Minnesota-based 1000 store music retailer); HomeLife Corporation (Illinois-based furniture retailer and Sears spin-off); Polymer Group, Inc. (North Carolina-based polymer manufacturer); and Globe Holdings, Inc. (Boston and Alabama-based spandex manufacturer). His chapter 11 committee representations have included Renaissance Residential; New Creative Enterprises; InGEAR Corporation; Universal Food & Beverage, Inc; and Capital Engineering & Manufacturing Company. He also represents numerous banks in their workout and bankruptcy matters.

Jonathan has written more than 100 articles and chapter treatises on various legal topics and has spoken at dozens of legal conferences. He is AV rated by Martindale Hubbell, holds a 10/10 rating on the attorney rating website AVVO, has been repeatedly recognized as an Illinois "superlawyer," and has received several other similar distinctions. Jonathan has been profiled, interviewed, and/or quoted in a number of publications, including Buyouts Magazine; Smart Business Magazine; The M&A Journal; Inside Counsel; LAW360; Business Week.com; The Bankruptcy Strategist; Dow Jones Daily Bankruptcy Review; Bankruptcy Court Decisions; Dow Jones LBO Wire; and the Daily Deal.

Jonathan graduated from the State University of New York at Albany, magna cum laude, in 1991 (after three years of study) and from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1994. He clerked for a federal judge for before entering private practice. He was an Adjunct Professor of Strategic Management at the University of Chicago’s Graduate School of Business for several years and was the 2006 Clayton Center for Entrepreneurial Law Visiting Professor of Business Law at The University of Tennessee College of Law. Jonathan was a partner with Kirkland & Ellis before joining Levenfeld Pearlstein. He is licensed to practice law in Arizona, Illinois, New Jersey, and New York.