John Kenneth Felter is a Senior Fellow in the Advanced Leadership Initiative at Harvard University. He is also a member of the Teaching Faculty at Harvard Law School and in the Economics Department of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard College.
An experienced trial attorney, Ken has tried numerous cases in federal and state courts throughout the United States. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and is among The Best Lawyers in America (Bet-the-Company, Commercial Litigation, Litigation-Patent), US News Best Lawyers (Bet-the-Company Litigation, Commercial Litigation, Patent and Intellectual Property Litigation), Super Lawyers, Corporate Counsel Edition and Massachusetts (Intellectual Property Litigation), Benchmark Litigation: The Definitive Guide to America’s Leading Litigation Firms & Attorneys (Local Litigation Star) (General Commercial and Intellectual Property), and Boston’s Best Lawyers. He is Of Counsel in Ropes & Gray LLP’s Intellectual Property Group and Litigation Department.
Ken frequently writes on a wide variety of legal topics. Notably, he is a co-author of the ABA Section of Litigation treatise on Business and Commercial Litigation in Federal Courts and Massachusetts Courtroom Advocacy published by MCLE, Inc. He co-authored a forthcoming article on the admissibility of sampling evidence to prove individual damages in class actions that will appear in the February 2018 issue of the Boston College Law Review. In 2013-2014, Ken was Co-Chair of the ABA Section of Litigation Trial Evidence Committee and Editor of the Committee Newsletter and was named Section of Litigation Outstanding Subcommittee Chair.
Ken graduated from Boston College, magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, as a Scholar of the College with joint MA and BA degrees in Economics, and from Harvard Law School, cum laude, with a JD degree, where he was Winner of the Ames Moot Court Competition.
He has been very active in pro bono matters throughout his legal career, especially in the areas of civil rights. In 2013, he received The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Economic Justice Civil Rights Pro Bono Recognition Award for his work as lead trial attorney in NAACP v. Galvin, a National Voter Registration Act of 1993 case.
For his access to justice fellowship project, Ken is continuing his decades-long work with Greater Boston Legal Services. He has been on the GBLS Board of Directors for over thirty years and was elected President and Chair of the Board in June 2017. His project will focus on working with the GBLS managers, attorneys, staff and Board members to make systemic changes to make the delivery of legal services more efficient and effective.