David Freeman (solicitor)

David John Freeman is a British solicitor who founded the law firm DJFreeman, which grew from a one man firm in 1952 to become a leading London law firm.^[1]

Early life

David John Freeman was born on 25 February 1928, in Cardiff, Wales. His father was a tailor. The family moved to London in 1933. He attended Christ College, Finchley, a grammar school, and after having served in the army as a 2nd Lieutenant, 1946–48, qualified as a solicitor in 1952 and immediately started his own practice, DJFreeman.

Legal career

David Freeman built his one man firm up to a leading London firm, with 53 partners and 250 employees by his retirement as senior partner after 40 years in 1992 .^[2] The firm covered commercial property, insurance and media work .^[3] David Freeman personally was known for high profile insolvency, including The State Building Society crash in 1959, the John Bloom/ Rolls Razor case through the mid 1960s, the Robert Maxwell DTI inquiry in 1970. David Freeman also advised in the liquidation of Barlow Clowes, in 1987 . In the Secondary Banks crisis of 1974 he worked on several rescues, including Hambro’s rescue of Vavasseur, the Stern Administration, the Ronald Lyon Administration, and the Israel British Bank collapse. In 1974 he also advised Harold Wilson, then Prime Minister, on libel. In 1977 he was appointed a Department of Trade Inspector into AEG Telefunken (UK) ltd and Credit Collections ltd : the first practising solicitor, rather than a QC, to be so appointed.^[4] After retiring in 1992 David Freeman remained a consultant at DJ Freeman until 2003. The firm is now known as Edwards Wildman Palmer LLP after merger.

Other activities

David Freeman is a secular Jew. He has been a trustee of Ravenswood, now Norwood, Children's’ Home, a governor of Carmel College; he sat on the defence committee of the Jewish Board of Deputies in the 1960s, and was a founder member of JACOB, now the Community Security Trust.^[5] He was a governor of the RSC, (1975–1996) and of the Mermaid Theatre. In 2000, he was Chairman of the Trustees, and of the Executive Committee of the Holocaust Conference “Remembering for the Future”, Oxford University. 2005-2006 Chairman of “An Inquiry into the Provenance of 654 Aramaic incantation bowls “ for University College, London (UCL) 2006-2008 Chairman of "An Inquiry into the Legal , Ethical, and proffessional considerations involved in the Aquisition and `receipt of Cultural property in UCL."

Family

He married Iris Alberge (1927–1997) in 1950. She became a partner in his law firm and subsequently wrote the authorised biography of the distinguished Master of the Rolls, Lord Denning. There are 3 children of the marriage, and 12 grandchildren. In 2001 he married Connie Levy.

References

1. ^ ‘The Lawyer” periodical , 3.7.1990 “The only top firm in the city to be started from scratch by one man”
2. ^ Commercial Lawyer , vol 1 no 6 , March 1996 , Cover article on “David Freeman :Rainmaker”
3. ^ The Times newspaper , 31 August 1991 “ an envied reputation in commercial property and insolvency law”
4. ^ “Pride versus Prejudice – Jewish Doctors and Lawyers in England , 1890-1990” John Cooper ,Littman Library of Jewish Civilisation” 2003 pp 309-10
5. ^ “History of the Jewish Board of Deputies” pp 23-26 ‘Among Jewish solicitors, many were household names within the Jewish Community and beyond, their prowess as solicitors matched by their prominence in communal Jewish life – , Lord Nathan , Lord Victor Mishcon, Leslie Paisner, David Freeman were characteristic. ”

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Name	Freeman, David
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Date of birth	1928
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