Janet Schmidt Sherman

1941 - 2022

December 21, 1941 - December 11, 2022 Janet Schmidt Sherman, 80, passed away peacefully in Santa Monica on December 11, 2022. Janet was born in Chicago, IL on December 21, 1941 to Jules and Grace Meyers. The family moved to Los Angeles when Janet and her sister Laurie were children. Janet graduated from Fairfax High School and then entered UCLA, receiving a BA degree in education. Janet then decided to pursue a career in sociology. She obtained Masters and Doctorate degrees in sociology from UCLA, graduating with her Ph.D. in 1976. She taught sociology and criminology courses at San Diego State University for the next several years. She was one of the first women granted tenure at the university.
Janet then developed an interest in the law. She was committed to fighting for justice for the underprivileged and the powerless. She began taking law courses at night, while continuing to teach during the day, all while raising her daughter as a single mom. She obtained her law degree in 1980, embarking on a 35-year career as a criminal defense attorney in Santa Monica. And she was one of the best. She was a passionate and effective advocate for hundreds of clients. She achieved outstanding results, sometimes in the most difficult of cases. She served with distinction on the Indigent Defense Panel for the federal court in Los Angeles. She acquired a national reputation and was invited to join the prestigious American Board of Criminal Lawyers--one of the first women to achieve that honor.
Janet is survived by her sister and brother-in-law Laurie and Hank Abramson; her daughter and son-in-law Heidi and Brian Emberling and grandchildren Geordie Emberling and Sarah Emberling; and her husband of 31 years, Fred Friedman. Janet loved spending time with family. She had a very close relationship with her daughter Heidi and doted on her beautiful and talented grandchildren. She loved hiking in the local mountains with Fred and their friends. She loved skiing in Aspen in the winter, and attending the music festival there in the summer. Or just enjoying a movie with Fred on a Saturday night.
Janet was strong and independent, and also a sweet, warm, charming and generous woman. She was tall, beautiful and always elegantly dressed. She forged many close friendships over the years and will be greatly missed by many.
Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday, December 14 at Mount Sinai Memorial Park in Simi Valley. Donations in her memory may be made to the Lewy Body Dementia Association (lbda.org).