Jan E. Friedman is an attorney with Disability Rights Oregon (DRO; formerly known as Oregon Advocacy Center), the state's protection and advocacy agency for people with disabilities. Her clients include respondents in guardianship and conservatorship proceedings, appellants attempting to gain coverage for assistive technology, and victims of abuse or neglect.
She serves on the Portland Police Bureau Crisis Intervention Team Advisory Board, the Governor's Task Force for Mental Health Alignment, the Oregon State Bar Elder Law Section, the Oregon Attorney General's Sexual Abuse Task Force's Legislation and Public Policy Committee, the Multnomah County Probate Mediation and Curriculum Committees, the Governor's Public Guardian and Conservator Task Force, the Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology Society of North America / National Assistive Technology Technical Assistance Partnership Veterans and Wounded Service Members Workgroup, the Oregon Partners in Crisis Board, and the Albina Ministerial Alliance for Justice and Police Reform. She co-authored the DRO Guardianship Handbook as well as the Declaration for Mental Health Treatment (2002 version). Further, she co-authored the report of a death investigation of a man at Snake River Correctional Institute.
Prior to working with DRO, Jan was a Public Defender and then had her own law practice in Columbia County, Oregon.