About

Heather S. Beard (she/her/hers) joins the University of Illinois College of Law as a Teaching Assistant Professor in the legal writing program. She holds a J.D., magna cum laude, from the University of Illinois College of Law, where she served on the Law Review. She also holds a B.A., cum laude, with Distinction in Speech Communication, from the University of Illinois.

Professor Beard spent more than 20 years in federal appellate practice as a Senior Attorney in the Appellate and Supreme Court Litigation Branch of the U.S. National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), where she briefed and argued labor law cases before the U.S. Courts of Appeals and advised on Supreme Court litigation. Prior to her work at the NLRB, she held supervisory and management legal positions at the U.S. Office of Special Counsel and the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, and practiced labor and employment law in private practice.

Professor Beard teaches Legal Writing & Analysis in the fall and Introduction to Advocacy in the spring and will add an upper-level Labor Law course in the future.

Education

JD University of Illinois
BA University of Illinois

Legal Writing
Advocacy
Labor Law
Federal Personnel Law

Introduction to Advocacy
Legal Writing & Analysis