Laura Manley Ladopoulos

Laura Manley Ladopoulos is an advisor in Manatt, Phelps & Phillips' government and regulatory practice in Albany, where — as one nominator put it — she has become "a trusted advisor on New York policy," helping clients navigate the state's complex legislative, regulatory, and budget processes. Drawing on more than a decade of senior experience inside the New York State Senate and Assembly, Ladopoulos provides strategic guidance across an unusually wide range of policy areas — energy, environmental and natural resources, libraries and cultural institutions, higher education, retail, health care, housing, economic development, and association advocacy.

Before joining Manatt, Ladopoulos held senior policy and legislative roles in the State Senate. As Director of Policy Development for then-Senate Environmental Conservation Committee Chair Mark Grisanti, she helped develop and advance the committee's legislative agenda, working with state agencies, local governments, nonprofits, and advocacy organizations on environmental and conservation policy while also helping school districts and municipalities navigate state budget and grant matters. She went on to direct the Senate's Cultural Affairs, Tourism, Parks and Recreation Committee, guiding policy affecting New York's tourism economy, state parks, historic preservation, and cultural institutions.

Since joining Manatt in 2018, Ladopoulos has been a core member of the firm's Albany-based advocacy team, translating fast-moving state policy developments into clear, actionable guidance for clients. In 2026, she helped clients navigate one of the most complex legislative and budget cycles in recent memory — tracking budget proposals, identifying funding opportunities, and protecting existing priorities across sectors as varied as energy, plastics and packaging, health care, and nonprofit advocacy. Colleagues describe her as a consensus-builder who translates complex regulatory developments into clear, actionable strategies — the kind of track record that, as her nominator wrote, positions her as "a dynamic and emerging leader in Albany's policy landscape."