Laura Feldman grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and comes from a family of lawyers. Beginning with her grandfather, Joseph G. Feldman, who practiced law in Philadelphia until he died at age 90, and continuing with her father, Stephen M. Feldman, a celebrated trial and appellate lawyer and author, the law is in her blood.
After receiving her B.S. in Biology from Syracuse University and her law degree from St. Mary’s School of Law (San Antonio), Ms. Feldman began her legal career as a defense lawyer at LaBrum and Doak. In 1991, she entered a practice with her father and her grandfather, with a concentration in medical malpractice law and complex litigation. When her father retired in 1994, Ms. Feldman and Attorney Rosemary Pinto formed the law firm of Feldman & Pinto, a boutique plaintiffs’ firm and the first all female owned trial law firm in Philadelphia.
Since Feldman & Pinto’s inception, Ms. Feldman has litigated numerous medical malpractice, drug and medical device injury, and other personal injury cases, achieving many 6- and 7-figure settlements and verdicts for her clients. Super Lawyers has recognized her as a “Top Rated Medical Malpractice Attorney in Philadelphia, PA” since 2005. She has received national recognition in Best Lawyers in America© since 2006.
Ms. Feldman considers community involvement to be an important part of her work. She has worked diligently to help ensure that all persons in need of legal representation receive legal services regardless of their ability to pay. Most of the firm’s clients do not have the money to hire a lawyer and have to depend on attorneys who will represent them without charging a fee up front. Feldman & Pinto strives to provide the highest quality professional services to clients—most of whom are seriously injured—without concern for their ability to pay. Ms. Feldman’s hope is that this may even the playing field a bit between the individual and corporate America.
Advocating for equal access to the courts has been a very important part of Ms. Feldman’s and Feldman & Pinto’s practice over the years. As chair of the Philadelphia Bar Association’s Public Interest Section in 2008, Ms. Feldman led efforts to address the legal needs and rights of minorities, the poor, abuse victims, persons with disabilities, the homeless, and other members of society who often lack advocates to speak on their behalf.
As the leader of the Public Interest Section, Ms. Feldman was responsible for providing a forum for new ideas in public interest law, for new directions in volunteer service. and for new public-private ventures to benefit disadvantaged populations. The Public Interest Section provides continuing legal education to its members and strives to educate and involve the entire Bar in issues affecting the public interest. VIP and the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas have honored Ms. Feldman for her efforts.
Attorney Feldman has also been a frequent lecturer, by invitation, at legal seminars. She has taught practicing attorney trial advocacy at Temple University’s Academy of Trial Advocacy; has served on the Boards of the Philadelphia Bar Association, the Philadelphia Bar Foundation, and the Syracuse University Board of Visitors; serves as a Board Officer of the Philadelphia Trial Lawyers’ Association; and is a Judge Pro Tem and an arbitrator for the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas.
Ms. Feldman has also spearheaded diversity initiatives within the legal community. As chair of the Philadelphia Trial Lawyers’ Association Diversity Committee, she strove to implement measures aimed at improving diversity within PTLA’s membership. In recognition of her efforts (which included evaluating hiring practices and sensitizing members to the need for reflection on the diverse nature of their clients), she was awarded the Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Association President’s Award in 2008.
Ms. Feldman has also served as a mentor to many inner-city children through employment and training at her firm. As a long-time champion of women’s rights, she has served as the chair of the Women’s Rights Committee for the Philadelphia Bar Association.
Ms. Feldman has an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell, which provides Peer Review Ratings that attest to a lawyer’s legal ability and professional ethics and reflect the confidential opinions of members of the Bar and the Judiciary. She is also a member of the Academy of Trial Advocacy. The academy is a national organization that only invites membership to attorneys whose peers in the personal injury bar regard them as among the most ethical and accomplished trial attorneys in their respective states.