Heather Robert Coffman

Heather Robert Coffman is happy to return to Ruiz & Sperow, LLP with a background in employment, education, civil rights, dispute resolution and immigration law. Ms. Coffman first joined the firm in 2005, working with clients in a range of areas, including employment, special education, student discipline and charter schools. From 2006 to 2008, Ms. Coffman served as the Deportation Defense Fellow at the San Francisco-based immigration law firm Van Der Hout, Brigagliano & Nightingale, LLP, where she focused on litigation in immigration and federal court. Prior to her work with Ruiz & Sperow, LLP, Ms. Coffman was an associate in an employment and civil rights firm, where she appeared regularly in state and federal court and drafted motions and appellate briefs on behalf of her clients.

Ms. Coffman earned a J.D. from the University of California-Hastings College of the Law, and a Master of Arts in Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University through a dual-degree program. In law school, she taught local middle school students through the StreetLaw program. In her graduate program in international relations, she focused on the nexus between human rights and conflict resolution in different conflict regions. Prior to entering graduate school in 2000, Ms. Coffman developed a nationwide program for youth mediators at a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit organization. She earned her undergraduate degree in International Relations and French from Tufts in 1997.

Ms. Coffman speaks French, Spanish and basic Russian, and is a trained mediator. She is an active member of the San Francisco Bay Area chapter of the National Lawyers Guild.

PRACTICE AREAS

Employment

Education

Civil Rights

Dispute Resolution

Immigration

EDUCATION

Tufts University, B.A.

Tufts University, M.A.

University of California, Hastings College of the Law, J.D.

MEMBERSHIPS

San Francisco Bay Area chapter of the National Lawyers Guild