Friedman received an AB in mathematics from Princeton University and studied mathematics as a research assistant at the Operations Research Center of the University of California, Berkeley, and at the graduate department of mathematics at Stanford University.  He received a J.D. from New York University School of Law, where he won the American Jurisprudence Award in copyright law.

Friedman and Dan Kleinman wrote a treatment for what became the screenplay for the movie Rage while in law school. The movie starred and was directed by George C. Scott. Friedman wrote a novel based on the same story, which was published by Atheneum Press and was a featured selection of the Literary Guild.

A past member of the National Board of Mystery Writers of America, Friedman is the author of eleven other novels, including a series of legal thrillers that spent a total of 26 weeks on The New York Times' bestseller lists.^[2] Termination Order was selected for The New York Times’ list of the Best Books of 1979 (now called Notable Books). Friedman's series about a squad of military investigators and troubleshooters, written under the name Philip Chase, was published as paperback-originals by Dell Books.

From 1978 to 1990, Friedman was managing general partner of The High Frontier Company,^[3] a motion picture development company formed to produce a movie based on the book The High Frontier by Princeton physics professor Gerard K. O’Neill and on O’Neill's ongoing work envisioning the possibility of creating earth-like orbital habitations and replacing earth's polluting power plants by orbiting solar satellites, all made from materials obtained from the moon and asteroids.

In 1987, Friedman created a half-hour TV series, The Story of Billy Clay, for a joint venture of Reeves Entertainment and McGraw-Hill Publishers, under the auspices of the United States Information Agency. The series was intended to be both a TV drama and an aid to intermediate and advanced learners of English. Friedman wrote the pilot script and the”bible” for 26 episodes. The pilot was screened in 20 international cities, including Paris, Rome, Bogota, and Beijing.

Friedman's 1999 novel No Higher Law, the plot of which centered on millennial religious extremism, was published in the UK and Commonwealth market by Headline.  Following 9/11, Friedman shelved the US manuscript indefinitely.   

Novels edit

• Rage, Atheneum Press, 1972; Paperback Library 1972
• Wall of Silence (original title: Act of Love, Act of War) Dell Books, 1979
• Termination Order, Dial Press, 1979, Dell Books, 1980
• Reasonable Doubt, Donald I Fine, 1990; Ballantine Books, 1990
• Inadmissible Evidence, Donald I Fine, 1992; Ballantine Books, 1993
• Grand Jury, Donald I Fine, 1995; Ballantine Books, 1996  
• No Higher Law, Headline (UK), 1999

As Philip Chase edit

• Deadly Crusade, Dell Books, 1976
• Merchants of Death, Dell Books, 1976
• Defame and Destroy, Dell Books, 1976
• Betrayal in Eden, Dell Books, 1976

Nonfiction edit

• The Pilates Method of Physical and Mental Conditioning, with Gail Eisen, Doubleday, 1980

Short stories edit

• "Roads" in Legal Briefs edited by William Bernhardt
• "Dog Days" in Murder by Obsession, edited by Otto Penzler, honorable mention in The Best Mystery Stories of 1999, edited by Evan Hunter

Motion Picture Screenplay edit

• Rage, 1972, Warner Brothers

• Philip Friedman at IMDb