Our People
Joel Feldman, Attorney
Joel Feldman (Harvard Law School, J.D., cum laude, 1988; Columbia University, cum laude, B.A., 1985) has been a shareholder of the firm since 1998. Mr. Feldman serves on the Access to Justice Commission of the Supreme Judicial Court where he is currently a member of the Executive Committee, and chairs the Access to Attorneys and Housing committees. In addition to having taught at Western New England University (along with the other partners), he has taught consumer law, housing law and fair housing law at many legal seminars and conferences. He also served on the steering committee of Springfield No One Leaves, a grassroots group fighting bank foreclosures. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Feldman worked as a housing lawyer at Greater Boston Legal Services, Western Mass. Legal Services, and the Legal Assistance Corporation of Central Massachusetts, where he was a supervising attorney. He was the Legal Director of the Housing Discrimination Project in Holyoke for three years, litigating fair housing cases in western Massachusetts. Mr. Feldman is admitted to practice in Massachusetts and for the federal District Court in Connecticut and Massachusetts.
Dan Ordorica, Attorney
Dan Ordorica (Boston University School of Law, J.D. 2019, magna cum laude; Duke University, M.A.T. 1999, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, B.A. 1998, summa cum laude) joined the firm in 2019. Since then, Mr. Ordorica has successfully represented a wide range of clients in various housing and employment matters before the Massachusetts Housing and District Courts, U.S. District Court, and agency adjudications before various rent control boards and the Department of Unemployment Assistance. In law school, he assisted a client in achieving asylum in the United States and volunteered in the Boston Housing and Family Court’s Service Center assisting pro se litigants. Prior to his legal career, Mr. Ordorica taught history and coached debate in urban public high schools in Boston and Los Angeles. Mr. Ordorica is admitted to practice in Massachusetts and the federal District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
Hugh Heisler, Of Counsel
Hugh Heisler (Rutgers University School of Law, J.D., 1984; Colorado College, B.A., 1979) was a shareholder of the firm since it was originally founded in 1996 until he assumed Of Counsel status in 2016. In addition to his work at the firm, Mr. Heisler served on the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Justice Project for seventeen years, and was its President for eight years. He also worked as a judicial law clerk for the Honorable Dickinson R. Debevoise, District Judge, U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey. He, along with the other partners, taught as an adjunct professor at Western New England University during the 2011-2012 school year, in the school’s consumer law clinic. Prior to founding the firm, Mr. Heisler was the Executive Director of the Legal Assistance Corporation of Central Massachusetts, and a Litigation Director and Acting Executive Director for Essex-Newark Legal Services. Mr. Heisler is admitted to practice in Massachusetts and the federal District Court for the District of Massachusetts.
Douglas B. Mishkin, Of Counsel
Douglas B. Mishkin (George Washington University Law School, J.D. 1980; Brown University, A.B. 1977) joined the firm as Of Counsel in 2018 after a long litigation career in Washington D.C. following service as a judicial clerk. That career included a 42-day trial in which he won a judgment of $20 million in damages plus another $7 million in sanctions against the defendant and the defendant’s law firm. His practice also included litigating landmark pro bono cases for the Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs and for Americans United for Separation of Church and State. He also served for many years as an officer and faculty member for the National Courts and Sciences Institute, which trains judges nationwide on issues of science in the courtroom, and as a member of the George Washington University Hospital Ethics Committee. He was the Constitution Day speaker at Bard College at Simon’s Rock (2017) and Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (2016), has been interviewed on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered and CBS’ Early Show, and is the recipient of numerous Super Lawyers and similar awards from legal publications. Mr. Mishkin is admitted to practice in Massachusetts, the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia.
Lily muzzarelli, attorney
Lily Christina Muzzarelli (University of Connecticut School of Law, J.D. 2023; University of Connecticut B.A., 2021) joined the firm in 2023. In law school, Ms. Muzzarelli volunteered for a pro bono referral service connecting low-income individuals with legal aid; helped low-income clients apply for asylum in the UConn Asylum and Human Rights Clinic; interned at JRI Health Law Institute assisting individuals with a variety of legal issues including housing and social security; and interned at Greater Hartford Legal Aid working on eviction defense. Ms. Muzzarelli is admitted to practice in Massachusetts, and Connecticut.
Leritza Ruiz, Paralegal
Leritza Ruiz (University of Massachusetts Amherst, B.A., 2021) joined the firm as the intake paralegal in 2022. She studied Social Thought & Political Economy, with a focus on reproductive health policy. She previously worked as the Co-Lead Organizer for I Have a Future, managing statewide campaigns in support of juvenile justice and youth employment. She co-organized the 2021 Youth Justice Rally at the Massachusetts State House and the Youth Senate Speaker Series in Boston.