​​JENNIFER L. FRIEDLAND
Equity Partner

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​​Phone:   (630) 434-0400 ext. 168
Direct Line:   (630) 493-0627
Fax:   (630) 434-0444

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​AREAS OF PRACTICE
Commercial and Civil Litigation
Trust and Estate Litigation
Appellate Law
​Partnership and Shareholder Disputes

Jennifer Friedland is an Equity Partner at Momkus LLP who focuses her practice in commercial and business litigation; trust and estate litigation; and appellate law. She has successfully tried both bench and jury trials. Jennifer has extensive experience in representing fiduciaries, as well as beneficiaries, in trust, estate and guardianship disputes. Jennifer excels in counseling shareholders and companies during closely-held shareholder disputes, both in and out of litigation. She has also obtained successful results for her clients in employment disputes, contract disputes, trade secret disputes, and real estate disputes. She has written and argued appeals before the Appellate Courts of Illinois and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Jennifer’s goal for her clients is to provide aggressive but efficient representation to obtain the most favorable outcome possible.
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Jennifer currently serves as General Counsel for the DuPage Bar Association and is on the Illinois State Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Law Office Management & Economics. She is a former Chair of the Appellate Law Committee of the DuPage County Bar Association and a former director for the National Association for Down Syndrome.

Jennifer is a Kentucky native who graduated from the University of Kentucky in 2001. In 2006, she graduated from Tulane University Law School in New Orleans, Louisiana. While in law school, she earned an Environmental Law Certificate and was awarded the Community Service Award for Commitment to Public Service. She also clerked for Justice Charles R. Jones in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeal in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Jennifer resides in Wheaton, Illinois with her husband and three children.

​​REPRESENTATIVE CASES

• Represented a majority shareholder in a closely-held business involved in trust and shareholder litigation that settled favorably for client for over $12 million. 
• Prevailed in appeal after trial court awarded client a default judgment in the amount of $5.75 million for discovery sanctions.
• Won a motion for directed finding after a five-day trial of a commercial-landlord tenant dispute, and subsequently won a motion for summary judgment on the counterclaim for past-due rent.
• Successfully defended against a motion for attorneys’ fees brought pursuant to Section 5 of the Illinois Trade Secret Act after a five-day evidentiary hearing, and overturned entry of summary judgment finding of non-existence of trade secret.
• Successfully defended a manufacturer of parts to be used by the U.S. Army in MRAP vehicles in a jury trial in which we obtained a favorable jury verdict in a breach of contract action filed by a sub-contractor. While the Plaintiff subcontractor sought $2.8 million in damages, we argued that damages were limited to $93,000. The jury found damages in the amount of $106,950, which represents $93,000 in liability, plus interest. This verdict was affirmed on appeal.
• Successfully defended a manufacturer sued by a former employee and shareholder for breach of contract, tortious interference with contract, violation of the Illinois Wage Claims and Collections Act, promissory fraud, claim under Section 12.56 of the Illinois Business Corporations Act, fraud, intentional infliction of emotional distress, claim under COBRA, and punitive damages. In a bench trial, Plaintiff sought in excess of $10 million dollars and the court found in favor of our client on all counts, which resulted in no monetary award to the Plaintiff.
• ​Presented argument to the United States Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit, in representation of an individual steelworker’s claim for his pension benefits under ERISA after the United States District Court, Northern District of Illinois, found that such pension benefits could not be offset by his workers compensation settlement.

​​BAR ADMISSIONS

• ​​U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, 2010
• U.S. District Court Northern District of Illinois, 2007
• Illinois, 2006

PRESENTATIONS

• Managing People and Setting Boundaries, ISBA Leadership Academy Panel Presentation, January 25, 2020.
• Creating a Record: Preservation of Errors and Offers of Proof, DuPage Association of Women Lawyers’ Annual MCLE Seminar, March 7, 2013.
• Navigating the Illinois Trade Secrets Act, DuPage County Bar Association Mega Meeting, January 22, 2011.

PUBLICATIONS

• A Primer on Perfecting and Enforcing Attorneys' Liens, Illinois State Bar Association General Practice, Solo and Small Firm Newsletter (March, 2016).
• Attorney Sanctions: When are Supreme Court Rule 137 Motions Appropriate? DuPage County Bar Association Brief, Volume 21, Number 4 (January (2009).
• Whose Auto Insurance Policy is Primary? DuPage County Bar Association Brief, Volume 20, Number 2 (November, 2007).
• Jennifer L. Friedland, Lauryn E. Parks, and James F. McCluskey, Trial: The Final Countdown, The Journal of the DuPage County Bar Association, Volume 24 (June, 2012).
• Sharing the Load: Advantages of Co-Managing a Law Firm, Illinois State Bar Association Law Office Management & Economics Newsletter, Volume 40, Number 3 (March 2019).

​HONORS AND AWARDS

• Recipient of the Daily Herald’s Business Ledger 2018 Influential Women in Business Award
• Emerging Lawyers, Leading Lawyers Network, 2015-2016
• Leading Lawyers, 2019

​​PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS AND MEMBERSHIPS

• DuPage County Bar Association 
  • Chair of the Appellate Law Committee, 2014-2015
  • Member
  • Member of Strategic Planning Committee, 2019- present
• National Association for Down Syndrome
  • Member of Board of Directors, 2010-2014
• Illinois State Bar Association
  • Member
  • Member of Standing Committee on Law Office Management & Economics, 2017-present
• ​Women’s Bar Association of Illinois
  • Member

EDUCATION

• Tulane University Law School, New Orleans, Louisiana, 2006
  • J.D.
• University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky, 2001
  • B.A., English
  • Honors: Magna Cum Laude