Heather graduated from Duke University School of Law cum laude owing $125,000 in student loans and facing 30-years’ worth of $1,200 monthly payments. No one ever told Heather that she couldn’t afford to go to Duke, even though, um, she couldn’t. Her mother was a modestly paid executive assistant and her father a mostly unemployed Shakespearean actor.
Heather didn’t realize she couldn’t afford an expensive education until after she got one.
At one time, people who earned fancy grades at fancy law schools got offered fancy jobs with fancy paychecks. Having become all fancyfied, Heather had to decide: take the job she had been dreaming about all her life that only paid $25,000 per year (representing people facing criminal prosecution), or make a boatload of money.
Duke Law’s generous loan repayment assistance program made it possible for Heather to eschew the money without defaulting on her student loans (Go Devils!). She will always be grateful that Duke enabled her to continue ignoring her own financial security in pursuit of her irresistible urge to stand up for people in trouble.
Heather has practiced public interest law for more than a dozen years. Beginning in 2005, Heather focused her advocacy work on reducing the financial barriers to practicing public interest law.
Heather has contributed to student debt relief policy for the House Education Committee and others in Congress, and has dedicated her professional efforts to advancing public service loan forgiveness which allows recent graduates to dedicate their careers to the greater good. Heather leads efforts to establish and expand student debt relief programs and to inform borrowers, schools, and employers about how to benefit from available debt relief programs.
Widely recognized by school professionals and media representatives as an expert source of information, Heather has trained thousands of students and professionals and is sought after for her sophisticated legal knowledge and accessible teaching style.
