- Personal Injury
- Medical Malpractice
- Legal Malpractice
- General Liability
- Governmental Liability
- Employment Litigation
- Business Litigation
- Real Estate Litigation
Formal Education:
1975 - Juris Doctor; Western State University College of Law (Hall of Fame)
1973 - Bachelor of Science in Laws: Western State University
1972 - Bachelor of Science, Business & Accounting, Riverside University
1976 - Admitted to Practice Law: California
- Supreme Court of the State of California
- Supreme Court of the United States
- United States Federal Courts
- United States Court of Federal Claims
Employment:
1976 to present Managing Partner; Heiting & Irwin, a PLC
- Emphasizing civil litigation in his career, Mr. Heiting represents clients throughout the state in bringing and/or defending a wide variety of claims.
- AV Rating (“Preimmenent”) by Martindale-Hubbell
- “Superb” rating by AVVO (rating is 10 out of a possible 10)
Professional Affiliations:
State Bar of California
- President (2005-2006)
- Vice President and Treasurer (2004-2005)
- Chair of Planning, Program Development & Budget Committee (2004-2005)
- Board of Governors (2002-2006), member representing Riverside, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo, Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties
- State Bar’s Mandatory Fee Arbitration Program-appointed arbitrator (1/1/2018 to 12/31/23)
- Developed Pipeline Program to enhance diversity in lawyers and judiciary and to enhance access to justice
- State Bar Lawyer Assistance Program Oversight Committee (2020-2024)
Other State Bar offices:
- Bench-Bar Coalition (B.B.C.) member (2014-present); Southern Region Co-Chair (2018-present)
- Executive Committee Member at Large (Southern Region) (2016-2018)
- Discipline Standards Task Force member (2014-present)
- California Judges Association-Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee (2006-present)
- California Judges Association Committee (2004-2005)
- Chair of the Morrison Committee for the Lecture Foundation (2005-2006)
- Foundation of the State Bar of California, Board of Directors (2005-2006)
- Ex-Officio Member of American Law Institute (2005-2006)
- Chair of Committee on Board Operations (2004-2005)
- State Bar Professional Liability Insurance Committee (2004-2005)
- “Stakeholders” Committee (2004-2005)
- Chair: Pilot Program Interaction Advisory Committee (2003-2005)
- Appointed by California Supreme Court Chief Justice to the Supreme Court’s State Bar Court Judge Evaluation and Nomination Committee (2004-2006)
- Task Force on Lawyer Support for Legal Services-Large Firm Outreach Team member (AB 2301) (2007)
- Appointed by California Supreme Court Chief Justice to Advisory Commission on “Brown vs. Board of Education”(2003)
- Delegate to State Bar Conference of Delegates (1995-2002)
- Executive Committee, State Bar Conference of Delegates (2000-2002)
- Various Sections and activities
American Bar Association
- Health Law Section member
- Appointed Vice Chair, Task Force on Substance Use Disorders and Mental Health (2015-2017)
- Appointed Vice Chair/Programming/Distance Learning/eSource of the Substance Use Disorders Task Force (2014-2015)
- Appointed Health Law and Policy Coordinating Committee Liaison (2014-2015)
- Appointed Chair of the Substance Use Disorders Advisory Board (2013-2014)
- Appointed Vice Chair of the Substance Abuse Advisory Board (2012-2013)
- ADR & Conflict Management in Healthcare Committee (2014-2015)
- Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs, West Coast Commissioner (2007-2010)
- Commission on Lawyer Assistance Program:
- Diversity Initiative Committee (2009-present)
- Judicial Assistance Initiative (2009-present)
- Chair (2009-2010)
- Advisory Committee to the Standing Committee on Substance Abuse (2010-2012)
- Dispute Resolution Section member
- “Voices of Recovery” Podcast (2017, 2018)
“The Other Bar”
- Board of Directors (1988-2004; 2007-present)
- President and Chairman of the Board (1991-1993)
- Other Bar Foundation, President (2015-present)
Riverside County Bar Association (since 1977)
- President (1996-1997)
- Founder of the “School of Ethics and Advocacy” (1999)
- Author of “Guidelines of Professional Courtesy and Civility”
- Member of multiple committees since 1977
- Recipient of the James H. Krieger Meritorious Service Award (highest award given by the Riverside County Bar Association) (2009)
San Bernardino County Bar Association
- Lifetime member
- Recipient of the Florentino Garza Fortitude Award (2014)
Dispute Resolution Services
- Board of Directors (2009-present)
Federal Bar Association since 1996 (Co-Founder of Local Chapter)
Leo A. Deegan Inn of Court (1992-present) (founding member) “Master” status
- Board of Directors (1992-1996)
- Emeritus member since 2002
ILAA (International Lawyers Group)
- Chair (2016-2017)
- Trustee (2013-2016)
Current community and other board memberships:
- Tennessee Walking Horse Association of California Board of Directors (TWHAC) (2006-present); President (2011-present)
- Tennessee Walking Horse Breeders’ & Exhibitors’ Association International Board of Directors (TWHBEA) (2015-present)
- TWHBEA Training and Welfare Committee member (2016-present)
- TWHBEA Administrative/Fiscal/Audit Committee member (2014)
- Performance Horse Committee member (2014)
- ByLaws Committee member (2014)
- Secretary (2016-2019)
- Equine Welfare Committee, Vice President (2019-present)
- Election Committee, Vice President (2021 to present)
- CCJCF (California Collaborative Justice Courts Foundation) board member (2012-2017)
- Founder and chair of Inland Empire Champions for Collaborative Courts (IEC³) (2012-present)
- “Nelson House” Board of Directors (1995 to present)
Other activities and memberships:
- American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) member (2019 to present)
- American Society of Law and Medicine
- Consumer Attorneys of California
- Los Angeles County Bar Association
- Santa Barbara County Bar Association
- Beverly Hills Bar Association
- Richard T. Fields Bar Association
- Nu Beta Epsilon National Law Fraternity
- National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Addiction
- Local Board of Directors (1984-1986)
- Ralph N. Kleps Award recipient (1996) “for improvement in the administration of the courts” (4th District Court of Appeal
- Betty Ford Center Chairman’s Council (1997-2010) and Risk Committee (2010-2015)
- Arbitrator
- Mediator
- Judge Pro Tem
- Strauss Institute Certification for Dispute Resolution
- University of LaVerne College of Law Keynote Speaker for 2014 Hooding and Commencement event
Speaker: Variety of programs and seminars including:
- University of California Riverside Extension Center (January, 2007)
- Family Law Mediation Group in Ontario (January, 2007)
- Association of Southern California Defense Counsel (February, 2007)
- Ventura County Bar Bridging the Gap (January, 2008)
- Community Associations Institute, College of Community Association Lawyers speaker/instructor (2008)
- Hispanic National Bar Association, Hollywood (September, 2008)
- University of Southern California-Riverside (January 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2018)
- California County Counsel Juvenile Dependency Section in Palm Springs (October, 2009)
- College Community Association of Lawyers of Rancho Las Palmas (January, 2009)
- Riverside Barristers (February 2009, March 2011, January 2012, November 2017)
- National Bar Association panelist for the seminar on “Diversity on the Bench: Getting There and Serving Without Blemish or Removal” (August, 2009)
- Utah State Bar Lawyers Helping Lawyers (July, 2011)
- ABA CoLAP-Hispanic National Bar Association Conference in San Diego (March, 2010)
- Western Conference on Behavioral Health and Disorders (June, 2010)
- Santa Barbara Women’s Group (November, 2010)
- ABA/National Legal Aid and Defender Association Equal Justice Conference (2011)
- ABA Equal Justice Conference (May, 2011)
- Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles (September, 2011)
- East/West Family Law Council (November, 2011)
- University of California Riverside Palm Desert Graduate Center (January, 2012)
- MultiCultural Bar Alliance in Los Angeles (May, 2012)
- Chapman University (September, 2012)
- Ventura County Bar Association (October, 2012; January, 2017)
- Riverside District Attorney and County Counsel (December, 2012; January, 2014)
- Federal Bar Association of San Joaquin Valley in Fresno (January, 2013)
- Riverside Public Defender (January, 2013)
- LaVerne College of Law (January, 2013; Commencement speaker, May, 2014)
- Antelope Valley Bar Association (January, 2013)
- International Lawyers Keynote Speaker, San Diego (2013)
- University of LaVerne College of Law (January, 2013; January, 2014; and April, 2019)
- Riverside County Law Library, Riverside; Indio (December, 2014; January, 2014)
- Greater Inland Empire Municipal Law Association (January, 2014)
- ICAP Education Conference, Riverside (September, 2014)
- Western San Bernardino County Bar Association, Rancho Cucamonga (October, 2015)
- RCBA MCLE Marathon, Riverside (January, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023)
- Collaborative Divorce Solutions of Orange County (CDSOC) (April, 2016)
- Ventura County Bridging the Gap (January, 2016)
- Western San Bernardino County Bar Association MCLE Blitz (January, 2017)
- Substance Abuse MCLE before Simpson Thatcher firm (June, 2017)
- ABA Section Annual Conference: The Lawyer, the Addict: Facing a Silent but Prevalent Issue in the Profession (May, 2018)
- Orange County Bar Association: Practicing Immigration Law in Turbulent Times, How to Manage Stress and Avoid Substance Abuse (September, 2018)
- RCBA Solo and Small Firm Section: “Solos and Small Firms Disadvantaged in Recovery and Discipline” (January, 2019)
- Other Bar MCLE presentation before Office of the U.S. Trustees (June, 2019)
- Other Bar MCLE presentation before Labor & Employment Lawyers Annual Meeting (July, 2019)
- San Bernardino County Bar Association: “Competency Issues and Substance Abuse” (June, 2022)
- California Association of Black Lawyers: “Competency – Reach Out When Times Are Tough (October, 2022)
- San Bernardino County Bar Association: “Do you think achieving and maintaining competence requires mental and emotional wellness?” (May, 2023)
Western State University Chair of Dean’s Counselors (2013 to present)
Western State University Hall of Fame
McGeorge Law School Order of the COIF (hon.)
Appointed to serve as member of Riverside Superior Court’s Civil Mediation Panel
New Medical Legal Publishing and West Legal Ed Center Faculty Member (2009-present)
Member of the Association of Discipline Defense Counsel (ADDC) (2011-present)
Member of LA Mediators (2012-present)
Published articles in Los Angeles Daily Journal, Lawyer Magazine, State Bar Journal,
Physicians Reimbursement Fund News, and a variety of other publications
Member of Global Registry & Network for Outstanding Professionals (2012-present)
Inland Empire Magazine “Lawyer in Action” (2007 to present)
Mentor in “Volunteers in Parole” (2003-present); Recipient of “Match of the Year” award (2005);
Statewide Board Member (2009-present)
Nominated as one of “Southern California’s Top Rated Lawyers” by the Los Angeles Times, Latimes.com,
Law.com, The National Law Journal, The American Lawyer, and Corporate Counsel
Selected for the 2014 to present Southern California SuperLawyers list
Recognized by the American Lawyer Magazine as a 2014 Top Rated Lawyer in Personal Injury and Medical Malpractice Law
Published article for the Quarterly Reader of the “Friends of Corona Public Library” (2014)
Member of The National Trial Lawyers Top 100 in the United States (2014 to present)
Invited and contributing author to A Cup of Coffee With 10 of the top Personal Injury Attorneys in the United States and Advanced Guide for Mediators
National Academy of Personal Injury Attorneys (NAOPIA): Selected as the Top 10 Personal Injury Attorney in California (2017 to present)
Member of The National Association of Distinguished Counsel (2015) (Nation’s Top One Percent)
California Agricultural Mediation Program (CALAMP) mediator (2016 to present)
Riverside Lyric Opera - Board of Directors (2007 to 2017); President (2010-2017)
Member of “Lawyers of Distinction” (2018 to present)
Member of “Attorney Guru” (2018 to present)
American Institute of Trial Lawyers member (2019 to present); “Litigator of the Year”
Scientific Association of Forensic Examiners (SAFE) presentation: “How Attorneys Select Experts” (Sept., 2019)
Member of Valley View High School Law Academy Pathway Advisory Council (2019 to present)
