Timothy J. Heaphy
American lawyer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Timothy J. Heaphy (born 1964) is a white-collar criminal defense attorney, law professor and a former United States attorney for the Western District of Virginia. He served as the lead investigator for the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack.[1]
Timothy Heaphy | |
|---|---|
| |
| United States Attorney for the Western District of Virginia | |
| In office December 4, 2009 – January 1, 2015 | |
| President | Barack Obama |
| Preceded by | John L. Brownlee |
| Succeeded by | John P. Fishwick Jr. |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1964 (age 61–62) New Haven, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Party | Democratic |
| Education | University of Virginia (BA, JD) |
Education and early career
Heaphy was raised in a Maryland suburb of Washington D.C. He attended college at the University of Virginia where he played football. He is married to Lori Shinseki, the daughter of Eric Shinseki.[2]
After graduating from the University of Virginia in 1986, Heaphy taught at a private school for a year and then joined the staff of Senator Joe Biden (D-Del.) He returned to Charlottesville, Virginia in 1988 to attend law school, graduating in 1991.[3]
Heaphy was a law clerk to Judge John A. Terry of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals before joining the law firm of Morrison & Foerster in San Francisco.[4]
Federal career
Following a two-year stint at Morrison & Foerster, Heaphy joined the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia.[4]
In 2003, Heaphy joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Western District of Virginia based in Charlottesville, Virginia. After three years, Heaphy returned to private practice, serving as a partner with the law firm of McGuireWoods.[5] In 2009, Heaphy was nominated by President Barack Obama to became the United States attorney for the Western District of Virginia, assuming that post on December 11, 2009.[4][6]
Return to private practice
He left the U.S. Attorney's office in December 2014 to join Hunton & Williams.[6]
In 2016, Heaphy founded a nonprofit organization that provides low-interest loans to formerly incarcerated persons, The Fountain Fund.
In 2017, Heaphy authored a report, commissioned by the city of Charlottesville, on its handling of the August 2017 Unite the Right rally.[7]
Heaphy served as an assistant Virginia attorney general and as counsel for the University of Virginia before taking a leave of absence from both positions in August 2021 after being appointed as chief investigative counsel for the United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack.[8] He was fired as university counsel while on leave from that position by Virginia's new Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares in January 2022.[9]
Awards
In 2003, The National Law Journal named Heaphy one of its 40 Important Lawyers Under 40.[10]