Jordana “Jordy” H. Feldman joins JAMS as a nationally recognized authority in the design, implementation and administration of high-profile victim compensation programs and as a seasoned ADR practitioner.

Ms. Feldman recently served as the independent neutral administrator of the Epstein Victims’ Compensation Program, a voluntary, confidential, non-adversarial program established to compensate the victims of sexual abuse by the late financier, Jeffrey Epstein. She designed the criteria for determining eligibility and compensation, maintained exclusive and final decision-making authority over the evaluation of claims, held confidential hearings with individual claimants and distributed nearly $125 million to eligible individuals over the course of approximately one year. 

Ms. Feldman previously served as deputy special master of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund (VCF), the federal litigation-alternative program administered by the United States Department of Justice’s Civil Division. The VCF was created in 2001 to compensate the thousands of victims who died or suffered physical injuries as a result of the September 11 terrorist attacks and was reopened in 2011 to address the claims of tens of thousands of individuals who developed September 11–related illnesses in the aftermath of the attacks. The VCF has awarded approximately $20 billion since its inception. Ms. Feldman worked on the VCF through each of its various iterations, playing a key leadership role in developing program policies, presiding over hearings with victims and their families, determining eligibility and compensation for thousands of claims, and interfacing with numerous federal, state and local government agencies, private entities and other stakeholders.

Prior to joining the Justice Department, Ms. Feldman served as counsel in the Complex Alternative Dispute Resolution group of the Dickstein Shapiro law firm. At Dickstein Shapiro, she advised clients in the design, implementation and administration of complex settlements and mass claims resolution programs arising out of, among others, class actions, federal legislative enactments and Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganizations. She handled matters involving complex business, commercial and insurance coverage, bankruptcy, class action, mass tort, personal injury and product liability disputes. Prior to her tenure with the VCF, she was a litigation associate with Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson, an international law firm headquartered in New York City.

Ms. Feldman is an experienced ADR professional who applies a panoply of sophisticated case management tools to the diverse matters, large and small, over which she presides. She has been praised for her judicious, empathetic and pragmatic approach to designing dispute resolution processes that provide parties with meaningful opportunities to participate and to be heard. Her ability to comprehend quickly the highly sophisticated elements of a dispute, along with her reputation for integrity and compassion, enable her to guide deeply entrenched parties toward the practical, efficient, cost-effective and just resolution of disputes.

ADR Experience and Qualifications

• As a special master and independent neutral administrator, Ms. Feldman has extensive experience in litigation-alternative programs to resolve claims and compensate victims of mass tragedies.
• Feldman is an adjunct professor of law at the New York University School of Law and a lecturer in law at the University of Pennsylvania Carey School of Law. She has developed and taught innovative courses on the application of nontraditional claims resolution programs to varied events—terrorist attacks, sexual abuse, environmental disasters, shootings and other traumatic events—that inflict both economic and emotional tolls on affected individuals.
• Feldman is the co-author of the Master Guide to Mass Claims Resolution Facilities (2011), a highly regarded primer that provides legal and lay guidance in navigating the design and implementation of mass claims programs.
• Feldman is a sought-after speaker who has made numerous speaking appearances and presentations before various media, nonprofit organizations, bar associations, and legal and undergraduate educational institutions.

Representative Matters

• Class Action & Mass Tort
• As an independent neutral, has developed dispute resolution processes and/or evaluated and determined claims relating to sexual abuse allegations against high-profile individuals, religious/faith-based organizations and affiliated entities
• As an independent neutral, evaluated and determined personal injury and wrongful death claims arising from terrorist attacks and toxic exposures
• As a litigator, handled personal injury and wrongful death claims related to asbestos exposure
• As a litigator, handled personal injury claims related to breast implants
• Personal Injury
• As an  independent neutral claims administrator, has significant experience handling various personal injury issues, including those involving catastrophic physical injury, long-term physical illness, wrongful death, psychological trauma, emotional distress, sexual assault and sexual abuse, as well as the evaluation, valuation, allocation and distribution of economic and non-economic losses arising from such injuries
• Product Liability
• As a litigator, worked on matters involving underlying product liability claims related to asbestos exposure and breast implants
• Business Commercial
• As a litigator, conducted corporate internal investigations and handled complex commercial contract disputes in the medical, pharmaceutical, transportation, financial services and art industries involving breach of contract, unjust enrichment and fraud
• Insurance
• As a litigator, handled complex, multiparty, multilayered insurance coverage disputes arising from asbestos-related bodily injury claims, including issues of number of occurrences, trigger of coverage, allocation, indemnity and contribution
• Estate Probate Trusts
• As an independent neutral, resolved disputes in connection with decedents’ estates arising from the appointment of personal representatives, limitations on the authority of personal representatives to prosecute or compromise a claim or collect and distribute funds, and the protection of payments to minors
• Health Care
• As an independent neutral, handled matters involving the resolution and payment of Medicare and Medicaid liens and reimbursements in connection with personal injury settlements
• Governmental & Public Agency
• As an independent neutral, has had extensive experience with various governmental agencies at the federal, state and local levels, including the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Division, the U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Assistance (Public Safety Officers’ Benefit office), the U.S. Department of Justice Criminal Division (Money Laundering and Asset Forfeiture Unit), the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Social Security Administration, the U.S. Treasury Department, New York City agencies and pension funds (including the New York City Police Department and Fire Department of New York), and other components and entities
• Bankruptcy
• As a litigator, handled the bankruptcy aspects of mass tort cases involving asbestos exposure and breast implants; underlying cases included product liability claims

Honors, Memberships, and Professional Activities

Memberships and Affiliations

• Member, International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution (CPR), 2007–2015
  • Commission on Facilities for the Resolution of Mass Claims, 2009–2012
• Member, New York City Bar Association
  • ADR Committee Member, 2022–2024
  • Academia Committee Member, 2023–2024
  • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee Member, 2022–2023
• Member, American Bar Association Legal Education in Dispute Resolution Committee, 2023–2024
• Appointee, Committee on Character and Fitness, Appellate Division, First Department, Supreme Court of the State of New York, 2024

Bar Admissions

• New York
• New Jersey

Selected Presentations and Speaking Engagements

• Panelist, “Designing Innovative ADR Courses for a Dynamic Legal Market,” American Bar Association, Dispute Resolution Section, 2024 Dispute Resolution Spring Conference
• Guest Speaker, “Road to Academia,” New York City Bar Association, ADR Committee, 2024
• Moderator and Guest Speaker, “Conversation with Kenneth R. Feinberg,” New York City Bar Association, ADR Committee, 2023
• Speaker, “Offering Victims Validation, Compensation and a Sense of Empowerment,” Women of Vision: Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, 2022
• Member, Mock Interview Program, American Bar Association, 2022–2024
• Moderator, “September 11th Victim Compensation Fund (VCF) and Its Role in the Federal Response to 9/11,” 9/11 Health Watch, 20th Anniversary Conference, 2021
• Guest Lecturer, Legal Studies, University of Pennsylvania, 2020
• Guest Lecturer, Cause Lawyering, Tulane Law School, 2018, 2019, 2020
• Speaker/Panelist, Town Halls – September 11th VCF, with various members of Congress, including Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and Max Rose (D-Staten Island/Brooklyn) (2017–2019), and with federal, state and local government/law enforcement organizations and personnel (FBI, Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association (FLEOA), New York State Troopers, FDNY, NYPD), and union and survivor/non-responder groups, 2002–2004, 2011–2019
• Speaker, 16th Annual Day of Remembrance Information Forum, 2017, and 18th Annual Day of Remembrance Information Forum, 2019, Voices Center for Resilience programs commemorating September 11 anniversaries
• Speaker and Trainer, Pro Bono Clinics and Training, September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, New York City Bar Association, City Bar Justice Center, 2011–2015 and 2018, and Pro Bono Law Student Clinics and Trainings, September 11th Victim Compensation Fund – Columbia Law School, Cardozo Law School, New York Law School, Hofstra Law School, 2012–2014 and 2017–2018

Selected Publications

• Master Guide to Mass Claims Resolution Facilities, by Deborah E. Greenspan and Jordana H. Feldman, International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution (CPR), 2011
• Program Protocol, Epstein Victims’ Compensation Program, 2020
• Final Report of the Special Master of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001, United States Department of Justice, by Kenneth R. Feinberg, Camille S. Biros, Jordana Harris Feldman, et al., 2004
• Final Rule, James Zadroga 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund Reauthorization Act (United States Department of Justice), 81 Fed. Reg. 60617, Sept. 2, 2016
• Interim Final Rule, James Zadroga 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund Reauthorization Act (United States Department of Justice), 81 Fed. Reg. 38936, June 15, 2016
• VCF Policies and Procedures, September 11th Victim Compensation Fund (United States Department of Justice), Co-Author, 2016–2019

Selected Media Coverage

• “Boy Scouts’ Victims to Plead for a Redo on Box-Check Mistake,” Law 360, Nov. 17, 2023
• “Inside the Messy Effort to Compensate 225 Jeffrey Epstein Accusers,” Business Insider, Jan. 6, 2022
• “Fund for Jeffrey Epstein’s Victims Has Paid Out More Than $121 Million,” The New York Times, Aug. 9, 2021
• “Jeffrey Epstein’s Victims Program Shutting Down With $121 Million Paid to Abuse Survivors,” ABC News, 9, 2021
• “$125 Million Later, the Jeffrey Epstein Victim’s Fund Finishes Paying Claims,” The Miami Herald, Aug. 9, 2021
• “Jeffrey Epstein Victims Fund Awards Almost $125 Million to About 150 People,” CNBC, Aug. 9, 2021
• “$121M Compensation for Jeffrey Epstein Accusers Who Relived Abuse,” The Times, Aug. 10, 2021
• “Accusers of Late Financier Jeffrey Epstein Can Now Seek Compensation from Fund,” Reuters, June 25, 2020
• “Epstein Victims Get Chance to Claim Share of $600 Million Estate,” Bloomberg/Quint, June 26, 2020

Background and Education

• Founder, Davarker Advisors, LLC, Claims Resolution Experts, 2019–2024
• Independent Neutral Designer and Administrator, Epstein Victims’ Compensation Program, 2019–2023
• Certificate, Program on Negotiation: Mediating Disputes, Harvard Law School, 2022
• Deputy Special Master, September 11th Victim Compensation Fund (as reauthorized), United States Department of Justice, 2017–2019
  • Director of the New York Office, 2016–2019
  • Director of Quality Management, 2015–2016
  • Special Master’s Office, 2010–2015
• Deputy Special Master, September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001, United States Department of Justice, 2002–2004
• Counsel, Complex Alternative Dispute Resolution Practice, Dickstein Shapiro LLP, 2009–2015; Associate, 2005–2009
• Litigation Associate; Fried, Frank, Shriver & Jacobson; 2000–2002
• Summer Associate; Beasley, Casey & Erbstein; 1998
• J.D., University of Pennsylvania Law School, 2000
  • Moot Court Board
  • Inns of Court
  • Teaching Assistant, Appellate Advocacy
• B.A., magna cum laude, University of Pennsylvania, 1997
  • Research Assistant for Dean Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, 1995–1997