About Heather A. Lachenauer, J.D., M.A.
Heather A. Lachenauer is an experienced litigator, appellate advocate, and educator who has successfully represented international companies, federal agencies, financial institutions, businesses, educational institutions, and individuals. She has advocated on behalf of clients in a variety of pro bono matters involving asylum, the death penalty, and religious liberty, among others. Heather has taught political science, rhetoric, poetics, and aesthetics as an adjunct professor and is a former member of the Board of Regents of St. John Paul the Great Catholic University. She is a co-founder of Epiphany Prep Charter School, a school dedicated to providing quality education to children living in low-income communities in San Diego.
Prior to practicing law, Heather spent 10 years working in the field of international development and humanitarian aid, with a focus on legal reform and economic development in Central and Eastern Europe and West Africa and the development of sustainable education in Papua New Guinea.
Heather completed her undergraduate work at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. She studied philosophy and theology at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology and obtained a master’s degree in education and human development at George Washington University. She earned her law degree from the University of Notre Dame School of Law.
A Virginia native, Heather is a member of the State Bar of California and the State Bar of Texas and is admitted to practice before multiple federal courts, including the United States Supreme Court.
Professional Background
Brown & Streza, LLP, Irvine, California
Senior Counsel, 2024 – Present
The University of Dallas, Irving, Texas
Vice President for Board and Legal Services and General Counsel, 2020 – 2024
First Liberty Institute, Dallas, Texas
Senior Counsel, 2019 – 2020
Independent Consultant, Dallas, Texas
2017 – 2019
Procopio, Cory, Hargreaves & Savitch LLP, San Diego, California
Associate Attorney, 2010 – 2017
U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, Washington, DC
Attorney Advisor, 2010
Juris Doctor, University of Notre Dame Law School, Notre Dame, Indiana, 2007
Master of Education, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, 2004
Bachelor of Arts, Government, College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia
Licensed to practice law in both Texas and California
Speaking Engagements
Napa Legal Symposium, Napa, California, July 24, 2024
- Panelist, Building on Solid Ground: Mission, Culture, & Leadership
Notre Dame Religious Liberty Summit, Notre Dame, Indiana, July 11, 2024
- The Catholic Identity of Catholic Institutions of Higher Education
Catholic Bar Association Annual Meeting, Arlington, Virginia, October 28, 2023
- The Administrative State and the Catholic University
