Heather is an experienced trial attorney with deep expertise in white collar criminal cases. A former federal prosecutor, Heather focuses her practice on defending individuals and companies in complex litigation and investigations, including in the areas of securities fraud, bank and wire fraud, healthcare and government fraud, bribery, and mortgage fraud. Heather also handles highly sensitive internal investigations on behalf of institutional clients and routinely is engaged in pool counsel and individual representations. Heather has achieved incredible results for her clients, including dismissals of charged cases. Below are a few examples of Heather’s representative matters at AEL:

Obtained dismissal of all federal criminal charges alleging violations of the AKS against client operating a mobile COVID-19 testing business. Read more about the case here.
Served as pool counsel in federal parallel criminal and civil investigation of prominent diagnostic laboratory company regarding alleged violations of the AKS.
Served as pool counsel in federal parallel criminal and civil investigation of national hospital system regarding alleged violations of the FCA and AKS.
Successfully steered a federal felony investigation regarding potential criminal violations of the Food Drug and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) to a misdemeanor resolution and a probationary sentence with no fine. Read more about the case here.
Conducted an internal investigation for a publicly-traded company into allegations of insider trading by its former CEO, which included a thorough review and analysis of the company’s insider trading policies and provision of recommendations under new SEC rules.
Representing a not-for-profit agency healthcare agency in connection with joint criminal and civil investigations by the EDNY and SDNY regarding receipt and distribution of Medicaid funds.

Prior to private practice, from 2017 to 2022, Heather was an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey, Criminal Division, in Newark. During her time as a federal prosecutor, Heather handled a wide range of criminal matters and successfully tried multiple cases to verdict. Heather has extensive experience investigating and prosecuting white collar crimes, including insider trading, bank fraud, wire fraud, mortgage fraud, and bribery. In nearly five years as a federal prosecutor, she led the investigation and prosecution of complex cases involving hundreds of millions of dollars in losses and some of the Office’s most significant securities fraud prosecutions. In addition to her white collar work, Heather also prosecuted dozens of violent crime and narcotics cases, including armed robberies and cases involving large-scale drug trafficking organizations, as well as child exploitation cases.

Prior to working as a federal prosecutor, Heather completed a federal clerkship with the Honorable Kevin McNulty, U.S. District Judge for the District of New Jersey, from 2015 to 2016. In addition, Heather previously worked as an associate at a top-tier multinational law firm where she worked on a variety of large-scale government and white collar investigations involving the U.S. Department of Justice, State Attorneys General, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and international authorities. In 2014, Heather also successfully argued a case before the New York Court of Appeals, which led to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office later dismissing the individual’s decades-old convictions for rape, murder, and robbery.

Heather is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School, magna cum laude, and the University of Pennsylvania, College of Arts & Sciences, summa cum laude.