Heather Van Meter, PhD, MSt

A Pacific Northwest native, Ms. Van Meter has over 25 years of experience representing private, public, and not-for-profit entities throughout the Pacific Northwest and is recognized by her peers as a leading trial attorney. Her practice most recently has focused on employment advice and litigation, while she also has extensive experience in general civil litigation, including mass torts, drug and medical device and products liability, construction defects, negligence, condemnation, insurance coverage, and multidistrict litigation in state and federal courts in Oregon and Washington. Ms. Van Meter's background includes over 8 years in the Oregon Department of Justice's Civil Litigation Section as a senior assistant attorney general and trial attorney.

Ms. Van Meter began her legal career working for local private law firms but then took advantage of an opportunity in Vietnam, teaching commercial law and company law at RMIT-Saigon. Returning from Vietnam, Ms. Van Meter taught constitutional law and evidence at Lewis & Clark Law School. While working as a trial attorney, she obtained a master of studies (MSt) degree in human rights law at the University of Oxford, and a PhD in international law at the University of Birmingham (England). Ms. Van Meter continues teaching, including graduate school classes in ethics, sustainability, and social responsibility as well as law, history, and finance classes to middle and high school students. As a professor and teacher, she has gained the ability to explain complex legal matters in understandable ways.

In addition to serving her clients, Ms. Van Meter serves her community extensively and is a past member of the Oregon Government Ethics Commission (governor's appointment), past elected Oregon Bar House of Delegates member, past president of the Marion County Bar Association, past president of Oregon Women Lawyers, past president of the US District Court of Oregon Historical Society, and a former volunteer criminal prosecuting attorney in Hood River County. She is currently on the Oregon State Bar Nonprofit Law Executive Committee and is a member of the Nonprofit Association of Oregon.