Legal Experience

Judge Heller was appointed to the King County Superior Court by Governor Chris Gregoire in 2007 and served for almost a decade.  While on the bench, he was known for his expertise in handling complex civil matters, including class action, medical and legal malpractice, employment, personal injury, insurance and commercial cases.  Prior to taking the bench, Judge Heller was a litigator for 25 years in Seattle with an emphasis on labor and employment law.  He represented individuals, labor organizations, public and private sector entities, and educational institutions.   After graduating from law school, Judge Heller clerked for the Hon. James Fitzgerald, U.S. District Court for Alaska.  For three years thereafter, he worked for the Alaska Public Defender Association as a trial and appellate lawyer.

Alternative Dispute Resolution Experience

Since leaving the bench at the end of 2016, Judge Heller has been a full time arbitrator and mediator handling a wide variety of cases, including: breach of contract, covenant of good faith and fair dealing, insurance bad faith, insurance coverage, real estate, boundary encroachment, timber trespass, adverse possession, eminent domain, condominium disputes, construction defects, commercial disputes, business dissolutions, partnership disputes, family dissolutions, franchise disputes, employment, non-competes, Taft Hartley trusts, excessive force claims against law enforcement, intentional torts, sexual abuse, negligence, personal injury, Jones Act, asbestos, wrongful death, medical malpractice, legal malpractice, catastrophic wildfires, defamation, trusts and estates, environmental, public school discipline of students and staff.

• University of California, Berkeley Law School, J.D. 1977
• Stanford University, B.A. with distinction, 1972

Alternative Dispute Resolution Training

• Process Essentials for AAA Arbitrators, 2022
• Impartiality: Do you know Where Your Biases Are? 2021
• Cyber Security: A Shared Responsibility, 2020
• Arbitrator Performance and Demeanor: Meeting Participant Expectations, 2018
• AAA Arbitration Fundamentals and Best Practices for New AAA Arbitrators, 2017
• Arbitration Awards - Safeguarding, Deciding and Writing Awards, 2017
• Pepperdine University, Strauss Institute, Advanced Mediation Training, 2017
• Pepperdine University, Strauss Institute, Mediating the Litigated Case, 2016

• Hearing Officer, Office of Disciplinary Counsel, Washington Bar Association, 2020-current
• Literacy Source: Tutoring jail inmates preparing for their GED exam, 2019-current
• Member, Washington Supreme Court Pattern Jury Instruction (WPI) Committee
  2014 – 2017
• Faculty, Washington Judicial College, 2015-2017, taught courses on discovery
  issues to new judges
• Chair, Seattle Ethics and Election Commission, 2005-2007

Please call for details.