BIOGRAPHY
Heather L. Hintz is a Director and Co-Chair of the Firm’s Appellate Practice Group. She represents privately-held and public companies, banks and municipalities in a range of litigation and business matters in state and federal courts, district and appellate courts, as well as in arbitration tribunals.
In representing companies from small to large for more than 20 years, Heather has given advice and defended claims in a wide range of matters, including environmental matters such as toxic waste litigation, broker-dealer litigation, breach of contract actions, title matters and real estate development disputes. She actively represents local and national banks and mortgage companies in bringing and defending mortgage and commercial loan litigation and fraud cases. Recently, Heather has represented banks in prosecuting civil fraud and related claims under the Racketeering and Corrupt Organizations Act, with respect to a series of large commercial loans.
Heather’s municipal and public law practice began in the late 1980’s in Texas, when she represented municipal utility districts in all aspects of their operations, including the development and financing of public infrastructure such as waste water treatment and water plants, tax collection litigation and advising with respect to all manner of day to day operations matters. In Oklahoma, Heather expanded her municipal practice to include defending the exercise of municipal police powers, urban renewal plans, eminent domain decisions and inverse condemnation actions.
Heather has also devoted a significant part of her practice to litigation involving urban renewal matters, in which she has represented a number of commercial real estate developers, investors and related entities in a series of actions filed against them, the City of Oklahoma City and the Oklahoma City Urban Renewal Authority under Oklahoma’s qui tam statutes. She successfully defended those claims in the trial court as well as on appeal to the Oklahoma Supreme Court and the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Heather’s appellate practice includes prosecuting and defending appeals to the Oklahoma Supreme Court, the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals and the Bankruptcy Appellate Panel.
Heather received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics with a concentration in Art from St. Olaf College in Minnesota and a Juris Doctorate from Vanderbilt University. While at Vanderbilt Law School, she was an editor on the Jessup International Moot Court Team and received the American Jurisprudence award for International Civil Litigation. She was also awarded the G. Scott Briggs Transnational Legal Studies award, given to the senior who has exhibited a high degree of scholastic achievement in transnational legal studies and who has made the most significant contribution to the development of international legal inquiry while a student of Vanderbilt Law School.
Heather has served as an adjunct professor at Oklahoma City University School of Law in International Law (1993, 1994, 2008) and as an adjunct coach of the Jessup International Moot Court Team (1990-2000).
In addition to being an active community volunteer in the arts and education and giving both time and pro bono advice to animal welfare organizations, she is currently past-president of the board of PAMBE Ghana, an Oklahoma non-profit organization that promotes bilingual primary education in under-served northern Ghana, which established and continues to support a thriving, community-owned model school in Bomboazio.
EDUCATION
- St. Olaf College (B.A., 1983)
- Vanderbilt University (J.D., 1987)
ADMISSIONS
- 1988, Texas (Inactive)
- 1990, Oklahoma
PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
- Oklahoma Bar Association
- American Bar Association
- State Bar of Texas