Up & Coming: Eric Friske

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As an eager young student, Eric Friske studied science and worked diligently until he got a graduate degree – just in time for 2009 and the Great Recession.

“Even though I was geared toward science, I realized it wasn’t really the path I wanted to take anyway,” he said. “So, after grad school, I realized that the skills and training I had would fit well with law.”

In his first two years at Henson Efron, Friske argued and obtained a $1 million prejudgment attachment against a defendant suspected of fraudulently transferring assets. He also played a major role in settling an abuse case for more than $700,000 for an injured client, and he was instrumental in settling a $300,000 claim against a pro bono client for only $1,000.

“That was a gratifying case because she was being sued for a lot, and we got it down to almost nothing,” he said, adding, “She brought us cookies.”

Friske received the North Star Lawyer Award for 2016 for his pro bono work, and serves as Henson Efron’s alumni liaison with the University of Minnesota Law School’s Partners at Work program.

“Finding my practice area was a matter of finding what I enjoyed doing the most,” he said. “My previous studies prepared me well to be a lawyer in general. The competitive, adversarial nature of litigation drew me toward that.”