Heather’s Background

Heather Heartfield is an experienced litigator whose practice focuses on complex wage and hour class and collective action cases.

 

After finishing in the top ten percent of her high school class, Heather attended the University of Texas at Austin, where she graduated early with an undergraduate degree in journalism. She then attended law school at the University of Texas, where she earned the American Jurisprudence award in Comparative Law and graduated in the top quarter of her class.

 

Heather began her legal career serving as law clerk to Judge Joe Fisher, Chief Judge Emeritus for the Beaumont Division of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. This coveted position afforded her invaluable insight into the legal process and inspired her to pursue a career in litigation.

 

After her federal clerkship, Heather worked in the litigation department at Andrews & Kurth LLP, where she practiced for less than a year before her practice group persuaded her to join in starting the commercial litigation boutique, Hicks Thomas LLP.

 

She then paused her law practice for several years while she raised her two children. In 2014, she applied to be a member of the inaugural class of the OnRamp Fellowship Program, a nationwide re-entry platform for women who have taken a hiatus from the legal profession. Heather was offered one of only eight one-year fellowship positions nationwide, at the nationally renowned law firm, Baker Botts LLP. Upon completing her fellowship, she joined Baker Botts’s trial department, where she advised multinational oil services companies regarding antitrust issues and authored successful dispositive motions and appellate briefs in a variety of areas, including toxic tort and ERISA actions.

 

Heather then spent three years working at the First Court of Appeals, where she served as chambers attorney to Justice Evelyn V. Keyes and staff attorney to Justices Terry Jennings, Laura Higley, and Jennifer Caughey. Focusing primarily on civil cases, she drafted over one hundred proposed majority, concurring, and dissenting opinions, panel memoranda, and orders.

 

Heather then joined the litigation group at Jackson Walker LLP, where she represented clients in high-stakes appeals to the Texas Supreme Court, Texas courts of appeals, and federal circuit courts concerning a wide array of subject areas, including employment disputes, contract and statutory interpretation, and First Amendment.

 

Heather’s deep experience on the defense side has given her a tremendous advantage in championing plaintiffs’ rights.