Heather Giannino

HEATHER is the managing attorney of the Bankruptcy Department at Heavner, Beyers & Mihlar, LLC, where she oversees secured creditors’ rights in bankruptcy, foreclosure and related matters. She focuses her practice on creditors’ rights, bankruptcy, process design and improvement, regulatory compliance, risk management, risk remediation, policy development, and controls and technology implementation. She is responsible for operations and regulatory compliance for the bankruptcy department, having led user experience design and technology implementation for a legal practice management system. She assessed compliance controls and implemented an automated paperless process as a risk-mitigation strategy, as well as created and implemented electronic data and metadata redaction policies, procedures and controls.

Heather is a regular lecturer, author and panelist on creditors’ rights, bankruptcy and regulatory compliance issues at continuing legal education seminars. She has written articles for the ABI Journal, Illinois Bar Journal and NACTT Quarterly, and she co-authored ABI’s Thorny Issues in Consumer Bankruptcy Cases, Second Edition. She is admitted to practice in Illinois, Missouri and Indiana, and in all U.S. District Courts in Illinois, Missouri, Indiana and Wisconsin. A member of ABI and the Bankruptcy Association of Southern Illinois (BASIL), National Association of Chapter Thirteen Trustees (NACTT), American Legal and Financial Network (ALFN), Illinois State Bar Association (ISBA), Decatur Bar Association (DBA) and Missouri Bar Association, she currently co-chairs ABI’s Consumer Committee and co-chaired ABI’s Hon. Eugene R. Wedoff Seventh Circuit Consumer Bankruptcy Conference. She also has been the co-chair of ALFN’s BKPG Events, Content & Social Media Subcommittee, a member of the Loan Modification Mediation subcommittee of the Northern District of Illinois Bankruptcy Court Liaison Committee, and a member of the planning committee for ABI’s Consumer Practice Extravaganza. She recently received the American Legal Financial Network’s Picture the Future Award, which is presented to outstanding young professionals.

Growing up, Heather’s grandparents, great aunts and uncles, and parents all owned their own small businesses in the small town in which she was raised. At a very young age, she saw her family exhibit the dedication, organization and drive needed to succeed in any endeavor. Within her firm, she mentors newer associates, paraprofessionals and administrative staff. Outside of work, she has served in a leadership capacity in various alumni boards and currently volunteers her time as PTA Treasurer, team mom for cheer and room parent, and she volunteers at local schools and participates in various charity events.