George J. Felos | |
Birth Name: | George James Felos |
Birth Place: | New York |
Nationality: | American |
Education: | Boston University School of Law (JD) |
Occupation: | Lawyer |
George James Felos (born March 1952) is an American lawyer specializing in right-to-die cases. He is best known for representing Terri Schiavo's husband Michael.[1]
Raised Greek-Orthodox, Felos graduated from Boston University School of Law with a Juris Doctor in 1976. He was admitted to the Florida Bar in 1977.
In 1990 he represented the family of Estelle Browning in an earlier right-to-die case at the Florida Supreme Court.[2] Browning while still healthy had written a living will asking not to be artificially kept alive, before having a serious stroke, which had left her in a nursing home reliant on a feeding tube for nearly 3 years; a judge had prevented the will being enacted, but Felos litigated the case even after Browning's death in 1989.[3] In 1990 in a "landmark ruling" the Florida Supreme Court decided in Browning's favor, ruling that the permanently incapacitated need not be force-fed.[4]
His conduct in the Schiavo case caused controversy, because he had Terry Schiavo moved to the Suncoast Hospice, Florida, where until recently he had been chairman of the board.[5]
He is also the author of Litigation as Spiritual Practice (Blue Dolphin Publishing), which combined discussion of legal practice with spiritual reflections on meditation and new-age religious beliefs.[6]