Jeff Feldman teaches in the areas of civil procedure, constitutional law, trial practice, and appellate advocacy. He also serves as the co-director of the law school’s Ninth Circuit Appellate Advocacy Clinic and as the Faculty Director of the law school’s Judicial Clerkship Program. Before joining the faculty, he had a long career as a trial and appellate lawyer, and he continues to handle trial and appellate matters in Washington and Alaska.
Professor Feldman received the Philip A. Trautman Professor of the Year Award in 2019, 2021 and 2023. He is the past recipient of the ACLU's Hero of Constitutional Rights Award, the Alaska Bar Association's Professionalism Award, and he twice received the U.S. District Court's Public Service Award. In 2013, he received the Alaska Bar Association's Human Rights Award for a decade of pro bono work on a death penalty case in Texas.
Professor Feldman is a fellow of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers, a member of the American Law Institute, and a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. He served for 12 years as Chair of the Alaska Commission on Judicial Conduct, and as a member of the Board of Governors and as President of the Alaska Bar Association. He obtained his B.A. (with honors) and J.D. degrees from Northeastern University and served as a law clerk to Alaska Supreme Court Justice Edmond W. Burke.
Professor Feldman has tried more than 100 cases and argued more than 125 appeals in state and federal courts involving a wide range of issues including the constitutionality of restrictions on reproductive freedom [Valley Hospital Ass'n, Inc. v. Mat-Su Coalition for Choice; Perdue v. Planned Parenthood of Alaska; Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest v. State of Alaska]; constitutionality of proposed ballot initiatives [Northwest Cruise Ship Ass'n., Inc. v. State of Alaska; State of Alaska v. Trust the People Initiative Committee]; class action requirements [Turner v. ACS; Reese v. Malone]; punitive damages [Ace v. Aetna Life Ins. Co.; Aetna Life Ins. Co. v. Fisher]; state leasing of natural resources [Baxley v. State of Alaska and BP Exploration (Alaska), Inc.]; Native American law [Center for Biological Diversity v. Kempthorne]; legislative redistricting [In re: Redistricting Cases]; antitrust law [Alakayak v. British Columbia Packers, Ltd.]; issues of criminal procedure [Linehan v. State; Farleigh v. Municipality of Anchorage; Arnold v. State; Reynolds v. State; State v. Serdahely; and Plas v. State]; issues of civil procedure [Hunter v. Phillip Morris USA; Sampson v. Alaska Airlines]; and imposition of the death penalty on an intellectually disabled offender [Chester v. Thaler].