Before her confirmation, Friedland served as a litigation partner in the San Francisco office of Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP. She joined the firm in 2004 as an associate, becoming a partner in January 2010. She has extensive litigation experience at the state and federal trial court and appellate levels, including litigating before the United States Supreme Court. During her legal career, Friedland represented a number of corporate clients in cases involving a wide range of legal issues, including antitrust, tax, patent, copyright, and consumer class actions. She also frequently represented the University of California in cases involving constitutional issues. She maintained an active pro bono practice. The State Bar of California named a Munger team including Friedland a recipient of the 2013 President’s Pro Bono Service Award. Friedland also has served as an adjunct professor at the University of Virginia Law School, teaching a course on constitutional issues in higher education.
Federal judicial service
On August 1, 2013, President Barack Obama nominated Friedland to a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. She fills the seat that was vacated by Judge Raymond C. Fisher, who took senior status on March 31, 2013. On January 16, 2014, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to forward her nomination to the full Senate in a 14–3 committee vote. Cloture was filed on her nomination on April 8, 2014. On April 10, 2014, the motion to invoke cloture was agreed to by a vote of 56–41. On April 28, 2014 her nomination was confirmed by a final vote of 51–40. She received her judicial commission on April 29, 2014. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor administered the oath of office to Friedland at her formal investiture on June 13, 2014, in the James R. Browning United States Court of Appeals Building in San Francisco. At the time of her appointment Friedland, then 41, ranked fourth among the youngest appointees to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Notable case
On February 4, 2017, Friedland and Judge William Canby rejected the Trump administration's request for an administrative stay of the district court's temporary restraining order in State of Washington v. Trump, part of the ongoing court cases related to Executive Order 13769, pending full review in the Ninth Circuit. On February 7, Friedland, Canby, and Judge Richard Clifton heard oral arguments on the emergency motion to stay, with an audio feed of the telephonic argument broadcast nationwide. On February 9, the three judges denied the request for a stay of the temporary restraining order. On July 3, 2019, in a follow-up ruling, Friedland and Richard R. Clifton upheld a district court's halting of parts of Donald Trump's wall. N. Randy Smith issued a dissent, and on July 26, the Supreme Court overturned Friedland and Clifton by a 5-3 vote on ideological lines with Stephen Breyer saying he would temporarily block the construction of the wall but allow funding to be set aside for it.
