On October 25, 2025, Jeff Friedman was awarded the 2024 Distinguished Alumnus of the Year Award by Samford University’s Cumberland School of Law. We had a fantastic time celebrating Jeff’s amazing accomplishment. We are very proud of him and are continuously inspired by his work ethic and determination to achieve the best results for our clients.
The following was posted on Samford’s website:
The Distinguished Alumnus of the Year Award is: “Given to an alumnus/na who has distinguished himself/herself in the practice of law, service to the community and leadership in the profession.”
“Jeff Friedman is the founding partner of Friedman, Dazzio & Zulanas in Birmingham, Alabama. Admitted to practice in all Alabama state and federal courts, the United States 11th Circuit Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court, Friedman has litigated in more than 30 Alabama counties and has been admitted, on a pro hac vice basis, to litigate in the states of West Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Georgia, Texas and Oklahoma.
Friedman is a fellow of the American Board of Trial Advocates and holds an AV rating by Martindale-Hubbell which is the highest rating for an attorney bestowed by that organization. He is also a member of the Judge J.E. Horton American Inn of Court, the Alabama State Bar and the Birmingham Bar Association. For the past 20 years, Friedman has represented a number of cities, counties and municipal agencies to help them recover funding for clean air and safe drinking water. To Friedman, his greatest professional honors are not tied to individual accomplishments, but the growth and good reputation of his firm.
Among many accomplishments, just a few celebrations of his success include being nominated for Public Justice’s Prestigious 2024 Trial Lawyer of the Year Award for his work in serving as lead trial counsel in the case of Adkisson v. Jacobs Engineering Group and serving as lead counsel in the landmark decision in the Tennessee Valley Authority environmental litigation, 2012 WL 3647704.
Additionally, he has had multiple judgments listed in the National Law Journal’s list of top cases and reported in Law 360 and other legal publications. A longtime advocate for Cumberland School of Law, Friedman said, “Since I was first invited to serve on the Dean’s Advisory Board by Judge John Carroll, it has been one of the most enjoyable and rewarding opportunities of my career. It has provided me with a way to serve the law school and stay connected to Cumberland. It is exciting to see the success that has been made in the past and thrilling to witness the plans for the future of the school under Dean Blake Hudson.”
Pictures provided by Samford.