Heather graduated from Mount Holyoke in 1994 with a double major in French and Philosophy.  She studied in Paris during her junior year on the Sweet Briar Program, and after graduation she returned to Paris to earn an M.A. in French at Middlebury College’s School in France.

Back in the U.S., Heather started law school at Boston University with an eye toward pursuing international law, studying one summer at the Institut international des droits de l’homme in Strasbourg. Her focus shifted to intellectual property law after she discovered that she found copyright law much more interesting than international law. She was an associate in the trademark group at Testa, Hurwitz & Thibeault in Boston from 2000 until the firm’s dissolution in 2005.  Since then she has been at Choate, Hall & Stewart, where she works on trademark, copyright and intellectual property licensing matters.  She uses her French periodically working pro bono with French-speaking asylum seekers through PAIR Project (Political Asylum/Immigration Representation), where she was an intern during law school.

Heather still loves to travel and tries to visit France every couple of years or so.  At home in Boston, she contents herself with wine tastings, events at the French Library and Cultural Center and the Museum of Fine Arts’ annual French Film Festival. She can be reached at hbalmat@gmail.com.