Biography
Leonard Feldman was appointed to the Washington Court of Appeals in March 2023. He joined the law school in 2020 after almost thirty years practicing law in Seattle. He attended the University of Washington, where he graduated summa cum laude in Psychology in 1987. After college, he attended Harvard Law School, where he was twice awarded the Sears Prize (given to the top two students on the basis of grades) and graduated magna cum laude in 1991. He then served as a law clerk to Judge Jerome Farris of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Following his clerkship, Judge Feldman practiced as a litigation attorney at Heller Ehrman (1992-2008), Stoel Rives (2008-14), and Peterson Wampold Rosato Feldman & Luna (2014-23). As an attorney, Judge Feldman focused on appellate practice before the Ninth Circuit and the Washington appellate courts. He was counsel of record and argued in the United States Supreme Court in City and County of San Francisco v. Sheehan, Case No. 13-1412 (2015), and County of Los Angeles v. Mendez, Case No. 16-369 (2017).
Before he joined the Court of Appeals, Judge Feldman was Chair, Vice-Chair, and a member of the King County Bar Association's Appellate Section, a member of the Washington Appellate Lawyers Association, a fellow of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers, a District Coordinator for the Ninth Circuit Pro Bono Program, and a member of the Ninth Circuit's mentor program. He is a frequent writer and speaker on topics relating to appellate practice. Among other articles, he has co-authored three articles with Washington Court of Appeals Judge Stephen Dwyer regarding appellate brief writing, oral argument, and discretionary review.
Judge Feldman was previously selected as one of Washington's Top 10 Appellate Law Lawyers by Washington Law and Politics and has received two Certificates of Appreciation from the Ninth Circuit, one for his work as a Pro Bono Coordinator and the other for teaching an appellate practice course at the University of Washington School of Law that provided students with an opportunity to brief and argue a pro bono appeal in the Ninth Circuit. In 2006, he received the Washington State Bar Association's Pro Bono Award for his work in appeals that raise important civil rights issues. In 2024, Judge Feldman was nominated by the Court of Appeals and confirmed as the court’s representative to the Washington Court Reports Commission.
Judge Feldman currently teaches torts or federal courts. He was nominated to receive the Outstanding Faculty Award in 2021, 2023, and 2024 and is a co-author of Keeton, Sargentich, Keating, Fleming, and Feldman’s Tort and Accident Law (5th ed. 2023).
