Beachwood Buzz Magazine - September 2016 Page 9

September 2016 Beachwood Buzz

Couple Defies Conventions

Personally and

Professionally

an Friedman, a highly skilled and fearless criminal attorney, thinks it's very funny that
he sometimes has his exonerated, checkered clients come to visit him and his brilliant,
accomplished, grounded and ground-breaking, half-Korean wife, Jamey Starkey, a practitioner

of Eastern medicine. When they're all seated around the kitchen table of their Beachwood home,
levity flows and friendship abounds.

"We're like the Odd Couple," he says, speak-

ing of their contrasts. But that really doesn't
capture the entire truth, which actually relates
more to bridging differences and finding grace
in that space. They have no regard for typical
schedules and approaches to life, and they
make that work every day. As such, a strong
case can and will be made to demonstrate
how convention received an eviction notice
both from their home and their lives, setting
them free to find love and happiness.

By way of introduction, Friedman, 45, has

represented clients in many high-profile cases,
such as the boy convicted in the Chardon High
School shooting incident in 2012. Currently,
he has several cases grabbing the media spot-
light, including a controversial matter involv-
ing a 14-year-old Warren, Ohio, girl who, citing
longstanding domestic abuse, allegedly shot
and killed her father. He is also representing a

Virginia man who was allegedly assaulted by
Draymond Green, the Golden State Warriors
basketball player. And he recently went to Peru
for a day to represent an Ecuadorian client in
an international bribery and money-launder-
ing matter.

Friedman's personal narrative hit a life-al-

tering moment in 2011 when he miraculously
survived a motorcycle accident that paralyzed
his left (non-dominant) arm, which has since
atrophied and causes phantom pain that
chronically registers 13 on a scale of 1-10.
Nerve damage is responsible for the condition
that he describes as feeling like "you stuck your
hand in a frying pan and couldn't take it out."

Despite this obstacle, his manner can be

calm and contemplative, while also being very
accessible and loquacious. A divorced father
of an eight-year-old daughter, Friedman and
Jamie are parents of a 17-month-old son and

have two rescue dogs. He says he's having the
best year of his life. Evidence to follow.

Starkey, 40, pioneered an unprecedented

undertaking bringing the practice of Chinese
herbal medicine, a treatment modality that
falls under Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM),
to the Cleveland Clinic's Tanya I. Edwards, MD
Center for Integrative and Lifestyle Medicine
on its Lyndhurst Campus beginning in 2014.
With solid data, research and evidence-based
studies, Starkey sold the hospital's top decision
makers on the efficacy and benefits of treating
patients with Chinese herbal formulas and
acupuncture, particularly for those suffering
from conditions such as diabetes, allergies,
infertility, chronic pain and menopause. She
serves as a program manager at the center.

Her work has made a big splash, catching

the attention of major hospitals nationwide
and resulting in inquiries and requests for

by June Scharf