Heidi was born in Omaha, Nebraska and moved to Selah, Washington in 1980.She graduated High School in 1988 and had her daughter, Toni, later that year. In 1993, Heidi got her first real experience with the legal system when she was assaulted on the job by her supervisor. For the next several years she found herself entangled in litigation. Although she never felt as though justice was served in her case, she did learn from the experience. She decided that she would attend law school and do her part to "fix" the system.

 

Heidi obtained her Associates of the Arts Degree from Edmonds Community College in 1997. Heidi obtained a Bachelors Degree in Law and Justice from Central Washington University in 1999, where she graduated Cum Laude. Later that year she was offered a partial scholarship to attend Gonzaga University School of Law.

 

Heidi moved to Spokane in 1999 and started law school later that fall. Heidi quickly caught Gonzaga Bulldogs fever (and she has battled it ever since). During 2000 and 2001, she interned at the Center for Law and Justice where she was able to begin representing clients. On her very first case, Heidi was able to find a problem with the law that was enacted to prosecute juvenile DUIs. This problem had the potential to affect all juvenile cases with similar facts, so the prosecutor offered her client a deal that was too good to refuse. The case was settled after oral arguments. 

 

In 2002, Heidi was one of only six people from the entire law school who was hand-picked by Speedy Rice to represent Gonzaga on their National Trial Team. She spent almost two hundred hours learning trial techniques from one of the greatest trial lawyers around. Although it was a lot of hard work, Heidi credits her experience with Speedy Rice as the key to her rapid success. 

 

Heidi obtained her Juris Doctorate from Gonzaga Law School in 2002. She took the first Bar Exam offered and passed. She was admitted to practice law on May 16, 2003.  

 

On June 6, 2003, Heidi opened her practice in Everett, Washington under the guidance of Tom Gissberg. Tom took Heidi under his wing and imparted in her decades of knowledge from both the legal aspect and simply that of life. He helped make Heidi's transition from student to lawyer about as easy as it could be. Heidi will forever be grateful for all of Tom's help.