David Feige

Who is David Feige?

David Feige is an American lawyer, legal commentator, and author. Feige began his legal career as a staff attorney at the Criminal Defense Division of the Legal Aid Society, and held positions at the Civilian Complaint Review Board of New York City and the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem, before becoming, in 1997, one of the founding members of the The Bronx Defenders. In 1999 Feige was promoted to Trial Chief. In March 2001, he filed the first motion for a double-blind sequential line up in People v. Leo Franco, spawning a series of legal challenges to eyewitness identification procedures around the country.

Feige is the author of Indefensible: One Lawyer's Journey into the Inferno of American Justice, which recounts his experiences as a public defender in The Bronx, New York City. Subsequent to the publication of the book, he was sued for defamation by Sarah Schall over his depiction of her as dowdy and corrupt, and by Mark Brenner, a criminal defense lawyer in the Bronx, for Feige's reporting that Brenner had kicked a client in open court. Both Schall's and Brenner's cases were dismissed with prejudice.

Feige is co-creator with Steven Bochco of the TV series, Raising the Bar, which debuted on TNT September 1, 2008 to the highest ratings for a pilot episode in the history of ad-supported cable television. The action takes place in the courthouses of New York City and the show deals with issues similar to those of Indefensible, though with fictional characters. The show was renewed by the TNT Cable network despite mixed reviews and a decline in ratings after a very strong start. He is a Consulting Producer and writer on the television show The Firm.