Jonathan Freiman

Practice Areas

Jonathan represents clients in complex and high-stakes disputes, including appeals, transnational litigation, and disputes over art and artifacts.

He handles appeals in the U.S. Supreme Court, every federal circuit, and state appellate courts nationwide. He has successfully vindicated clients’ most important intellectual property interests on appeal, including defeating a Nobel Prize winner in litigation over the ownership of the patent on the Nobel-winning technology. His victories in major commercial matters include reversals in a nine-figure case in the U.S. Supreme Court and in eight-figure cases in the Supreme Courts of California, Georgia, and Connecticut, where he reversed what was then the largest class-action or commercial judgment ever issued in the state.

Jonathan counsels clients in disputes involving art and artifacts, including claims involving provenance, authenticity, and export law. He has successfully defended a client’s title to one of Van Gogh’s most famous paintings, garnered a U.S. Supreme Court victory for Germany and the Berlin equivalent of the Smithsonian in a case alleging that a major collection of medieval art was obtained through duress in the Nazi era, and represented Yale University in its litigation with Peru over Incan artifacts from Machu Picchu. He regularly counsels clients on the investigation and resolution of claims involving provenance, cultural property, and authenticity, and he assists museums outside the U.S. in understanding, defending and resolving claims involving U.S. law.

He represents sovereign nations and foreign sovereign officials in pursuing or defending claims in the United States. He has vindicated a former president of Mexico wrongly accused of violations of international human rights law, represented a foreign sovereign nation claiming RICO violations against a U.S. company, and has represented foreign sovereigns on Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act issues. He has represented foreign ambassadors and former senior U.S. officials.

Jonathan has deep experience litigating international disputes in U.S. courts and frequently works with counsel in other nations, whether on coordinated multinational litigation or by advising on U.S. law. His assistance to counsel in other nations includes providing expert testimony on U.S. law in foreign judicial proceedings.

Professional Memberships

American Academy of Appellate Lawyers, American Bar Association, American Bar Foundation - Life Fellow, Connecticut Bar Association, Connecticut Bar Foundation - Life Fellow, Connecticut Supreme Court Historical Society, International Bar Association, Committee on Art, Cultural Institutions and Heritage Law, and the United States Supreme Court Historical Society.

Personal

J.D., Yale Law School. B.A., Oberlin College.