Christopher Heard, a Clinical Associate Professor of Legal Practice at the University of Houston Law Center.
Aug. 30, 2021 - Christopher Heard was recently appointed by Dean Leonard M. Baynes as the Director of University of Houston Law Center Clinical Programs.
“I am delighted that Professor Heard is taking the reins of the Law Center’s Clinical Programs,” Baynes said. “Since Professor Heppard’s election as judge in January of 2021, Professor Heard stepped in as a natural leader over the past eight months even without the title of director. When it was time to choose the next director of UH Law’s Clinical Programs, Professor Heard was the clear choice.
“I am very grateful that he has taken on this role, and I look forward to future success of our clinical programs under Professor Heard’s leadership.”
Heard joined the Law Center in 2016 as a Visiting Assistant Professor. He was elevated to a Clinical Assistant Professor of Legal Practice in 2017 and a Clinical Associate Professor of Legal Practice in 2020.
Throughout the entirety of his Law Center tenure, Heard has served as Director of the Entrepreneurship and Community Development Clinic, where he supervises and trains law students representing entrepreneurs, small businesses, and nonprofit organizations in connection with transactional business law matters. He will maintain these responsibilities in addition to his new role.
“I am honored by this exciting new opportunity to lead UH Law’s Clinical Programs,” Heard said. “Our clinical program’s faculty, staff, and students are exceptional. I look forward to working with them in this new role as we pursue the clinical program’s dual mission of helping facilitate student success though experiential service learning and providing first-rate pro-bono legal representation to our clients.”
Prior to joining the Law Center, Heard was Senior Counsel at Bracewell LLP in Houston where he represented lenders and borrowers in connection with the structuring, negotiation, and documentation of a wide array of commercial lending transactions. He was recognized as a Thomson Reuters Texas Super Lawyers Rising Star in 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016. Professor Heard received a B.A., magna cum laude, with majors in Economics, Philosophy and Psychology from Vanderbilt University in 2001 and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center in 2004.
