Otis Felder
USC Gould School of Law

Otis Felder is a partner with Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP, a prominent national defense litigation firm with more than 1,000 attorneys engaged in thousands of defense and coverage matters in various local, state and federal trial and appellate courts. With more than 30 years of trial and appellate experience in multiple jurisdictions on the West Coast and Hawai'i and as an Admiralty & Maritime Law specialist certified by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization, Felder serves as the co-chair of Wilson Elser's marine practice group. As former corporate counsel for Princess Cruises and Cunard Line, he has prevailed in a number of significant admiralty proceedings initiated by vessel owners under the national Limitation of Liability Act and continues to advise marine recreational rental companies as to charters, rental agreements and effective liability waivers.

Before joining Wilson Elser, Felder served as a Los Angeles Deputy City Attorney, vertically prosecuting hundreds of criminal violations successfully, from arraignment through jury trial, achieving a 98 percent conviction rate. Following a clerkship with the Hon. Wallace Douglass in the San Francisco Superior Court, Criminal Division, Felder volunteered to train cadets with the Los Angeles Police Department in testifying for various court proceedings. He also serves as a special master and discovery referee by special appointment of the Los Angeles Superior Court in executing search warrants involving privilege holders. He has also volunteered with the Valor Clinics for veterans, most recently at the Midnight Mission in Los Angeles.

Felder earned his AB in economics from the University of Michigan, followed by a MA in international relations from the University of San Diego. He later earned his JD from the University of San Francisco School of Law, where he was the editor-in-chief of the USF Maritime Law Journal, and later served on its board of advisors. He is now pursuing a second masters degree in psychology at Harvard University.

  

FACULTY IN THE NEWS

Annenberg Media
September 19, 2023
Re: Thomas Lenz

Thomas Lenz was quoted by Annenberg Media about the United Automobile Workers union ready to go on strike. "Strikes affect the livelihoods of those who choose to stop working. To the extent those persons aren’t earning money to spend that means stores, restaurants, and other businesses might not be as busy. If a strike lasts a long time bills might not get paid as easily, if at all," Lenz wrote.

RECENT SCHOLARSHIP

Mugambi Jouet
August, 2023

“Guns, Mass Incarceration, and Bipartisan Reform: Beyond Vicious Circle and Social Polarization,” 55 Arizona State Law Journal 239 (2023).

Edward McCaffery
August, 2023

"The Curiouser and Curiouser Case of Carried Interest" (with Darryll K. Jones), Arizona Law Review (Spring 2024).

Scott Altman
August, 2023

"Are Parents Fiduciaries," 42 Law and Philosophy 431 (2023).