Joel M. Friedman

President

[email protected]

Born in Chicago, Joel lived in the Austin neighborhood until age nine and then moved with his family to Niles. Early on, Joel balanced school, sports and working long hours at his family’s restaurant, Booby’s. After graduating from the University of Illinois-Champaign with a degree in Accounting, Joel attended John Marshall Law School while simultaneously working as a revenue agent for the Internal Revenue Service. In 1972, Joel married his wife, Iris, and together they have two sons and three grandchildren. In 1975, he joined a small law firm and practiced with several partners for 25 years, then as a partner at Horwood Marcus & Berk, before joining Warady & Davis LLP in December 2021. Joel’s focus areas include taxation, estate-planning, and business law.

As President of the Alvin H. Baum Family Fund, Joel oversees its investments, strategic direction, and grantmaking. Since 2005, Joel has grown the grant portfolio to include over 70 organizations working in education, health and human services, environment and violence prevention. Joel is a recipient of the John Marshall Law School Spirit Award and the Cove School's Prism Award. Dedicated to leaving the world a better place for his grandchildren, Joel’s vision and work led to the founding of the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment at the University of Illinois-Champaign.