Caren I. Friedman | Partner

Caren joined the firm in January 2020. Prior to that, she ran a solo appellate practice in Santa Fe for over fifteen years, representing clients on a wide array of substantive issues in civil and criminal appeals in state and federal courts. Caren was certified as an appellate specialist from 2003 to 2019, during the tenure of the New Mexico Board of Legal Specialization. Since 2007, Caren has been recognized by Southwest Super Lawyers as one of the top appellate attorneys in New Mexico. In 2024, she was invited to become a Fellow of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers.

Frequently called upon to serve the appellate Bench and Bar, Caren was appointed by the New Mexico Supreme Court as Chair of the Appellate Rules Committee from 2007 to 2010. The Court also appointed her as a member of the Committee from 2005 to 2007 and again in 2020. The Appellate Practice Section of the State Bar of New Mexico nominated Caren to the Board of Directors from 2006 to 2008 and again from 2012 to 2014. She served as Chair of the Appellate Practice Section in 2007 and as the Section’s Budget Officer from 2012 to 2014. The Board of Legal Specialization appointed Caren to serve as a member of the Appellate Practice Specialty Committee, a post that she held from 2005 to 2009.

Caren did her undergraduate work at St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland and Santa Fe, New Mexico. She earned her Juris Doctor from the University of New Mexico School of Law, where she won the prize for excellence in legal research and writing for her thesis, “When Human Beings are Chattel: The Jurisprudence of Involuntary Servitude.”

Upon graduating from law school, Caren served as a judicial clerk to the Honorable Santiago Campos in the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico and then went on to clerk for the Honorable Robert Henry in the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit. After her clerkships, Caren moved to Washington D.C. where she practiced in the Appellate Section of the Office of General Counsel at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. In that capacity, she briefed and argued federal appeals in circuits throughout the country. After returning to New Mexico, Caren joined Rothstein Donatelli, where she focused on Federal Indian Law and Employment Law, at both the trial and appellate levels.

Caren is licensed to practice in the United States Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth, Fifth, Ninth, Tenth, and D.C. Circuits, the United States District Court for the District of New Mexico, as well as all state trial and appellate courts in New Mexico.

  • Bankert v. 10 Roads Express, LLC, A-1-CA-41783 (N.M. App. March 17, 2025)
    Successfully convinced the Court of Appeals to affirm the denial of a motion to compel arbitration in this class action under the New Mexico Minimum Wage Act. The Court agreed that the arbitration agreement was unenforceable under the Federal Arbitration Act’s transportation worker exemption. Read Opinion

    In the Matter of the Estate of Perry R. Trujillo, No. A-1-CA-39680, 2024 WL 1093779 (N.M. App. March 13, 2024)
    Successfully defended against the Estate’s appeal, which sought to redistribute valuable water rights and various family heirlooms. The New Mexico Court of Appeals agreed that the judgment should be affirmed, partially on the merits and partially for the Estate’s failure to preserve issues for appellate review.

    Livingston Land, LLC v. Brooker, No. A-1-CA-38948, 2023 WL 2017517 (N.M. App. Feb. 15, 2023)
    Successfully convinced New Mexico Court of Appeals to affirm judgment rejecting contract and fraud claims against state licensed medical cannabis growers for failure to prove damages.
    Read Opinion

    Walker v. Carlsbad Med. Ctr., LLC, No. A-1-CA-40662, 2023 WL 209184 (N.M. Ct. App. Jan. 17, 2023)
    Successfully convinced the New Mexico Court of Appeals to reverse summary judgment in a medical malpractice case in which the defendant hospital administered incorrect blood pressure medications to the wrong patient, causing a life-threatening drop in blood pressure. The Court of Appeals found that the grant of summary judgment was error because plaintiff’s medical expert’s testimony permitted a reasonable inference of causation.
    Read Opinion

    Caren’s Significant Victories ⤏

  • Super Lawyers Honors 7 in Durham, Pittard & Spalding Offices in Texas and New Mexico
    Durham, Pittard & Spalding is proud to announce that seven firm attorneys are honored in the 2025 Super Lawyers guides for Texas and New Mexico. Read more.

    Caren Friedman and Philip Kovnat win in the New Mexico Court of Appeals!
    Congratulations to Santa Fe attorneys Caren Friedman and Philip Kovnat who successfully convinced the New Mexico Court of Appeals to affirm the judgment in its entirety in this consolidation of two domestic relations appeals in which DP&S represented the Father as Appellee. The Appellant had argued that the district court abused its discretion in refusing to modify child support and concluding that Father could claim Child on his tax returns. DP&S argued that the appeals were untimely, depriving the Court of Appeals of jurisdiction. In the alternative, DP&S argued that the district court did not err. The Court of Appeals agreed with DP&S that one of the appeals was untimely. The Court also agreed that the district court correctly decided the issues in the remaining appeal.

    Caren Friedman to become a Fellow in the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers!
    Congratulations to Santa Fe partner Caren I. Friedman, who has accepted an invitation to become a Fellow in the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers. AAAL was founded to recognize outstanding appellate lawyers and promote the improvement of appellate advocacy and the administration of the appellate courts. Membership in the Academy is by invitation only. Fellows face stringent membership criteria, undergo rigorous screening, and must be approved by the Academy’s Board.

    Caren Friedman named a 2024 Southwest “Super Lawyer”!
    Congratulations to Santa Fe partner, Caren Friedman, who was named a 2024 Southwest “Super Lawyer” in the appellate practice category. Southwest Super Lawyers magazine covers New Mexico and Arizona. Caren is one of only seven New Mexico appellate practitioners, and the only one from Santa Fe, to be recognized. This is Caren’s 18th consecutive year to be included on this list.

    Santa Fe office wins in the New Mexico Court of Appeals!
    Congratulations to Santa Fe partners, Caren Friedman, Justin Kaufman, and Roz Bienvenu, who successfully convinced the New Mexico Court of Appeals to affirm the judgment in this probate case involving a dispute over the decedent’s property. At the heart of the dispute was the Estate’s claim of a valid contract that allegedly distributed valuable water rights appurtenant to land near Truchas in Northern New Mexico.

    Caren Friedman and Phil Kovnat win big in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas!
    Congratulations to Santa Fe attorneys, Caren Friedman and Phil Kovnat, who, along with Dallas trial counsel C. Kyle Pugh and appellate counsel Jeffrey Levinger, successfully convinced U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor of the Northern District of Texas to deny a Motion for New Trial, for Remittitur, or to Alter or Amend the Judgment filed by the United States of America in a Federal Tort Claims Act case. Following a bench trial involving a collision between a United States Postal Service truck and a motor vehicle operated by Michael Le, which rendered Mr. Le a quadriplegic, Judge O’Connor awarded Plaintiffs over $26 million in damages, including damages for past and future physical pain and suffering, mental anguish, physical impairment, disfigurement, and loss of consortium.

    More News Stories ⤏

  • Just the Facts: Ethical and Jurisprudential Considerations
    Appellate Practice Institute, Albuquerque, 2020

    Unmoored: A New Harmless Error Era
    NEW MEXICO LAWYER, May 2014, Vol. 9, No. 2

    Taking the Rights Steps – and Avoiding Missteps – Before and After You File a Notice of Appeal
    New Mexico State Bar Annual Meeting, Santa Fe, June 2013

    Give Me Your Tired: Why an Appellate Specialist Should Be on Your Trial Team
    New Mexico Trial Lawyers Association Federal Practice and Procedure, Albuquerque, February 2010

    Calling Daniel Webster: A Message from the Chair
    APPELLATE NEWS (Appellate Practice Section of the State Bar of New Mexico), Aug. 2007

    Perseverance: Rehearing & Certiorari
    Appellate Practice Institute, Albuquerque, August 2006

    The Basics of an Appeal: What Every Lawyer Needs to Know
    New Mexico State Bar Annual Meeting, Ruidoso, September 2005

    Citing “Unpublished” Opinions: An Overview of the National Debate
    APPELLATE NEWS (Appellate Practice Section of the State Bar of New Mexico), Oct. 2004

    The Methodology of Oral Argument
    Appellate Practice Institute, Albuquerque, August 2004

 

Phone: (505) 629-1259
Fax: (214) 807-1799
✉ Email Caren

Address:
125 Lincoln Avenue, Suite 402
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501