Heather Richardson is a litigation partner in Gibson Dunn’s Los Angeles office and is Co-Chair of the firm’s ERISA Litigation practice. She specializes in health care, ERISA, insurance, employee misclassification, and class actions. She has handled dozens of high-stakes matters from inception to a win. She regularly litigates against both private parties and government entities in trial courts around the country and a variety of different arbitration tribunals. In the healthcare space, Heather has represented health plans and plan sponsors on a wide range of issues including reimbursement policy, coverage determinations, quality of care, pharmacy benefits, and provider contracting. She has served as trial counsel in cases involving novel, complex issues ranging from provider compensation to gig economy worker classification.
In recognition of Heather’s achievements, Heather has been honored by Chambers USA as a leading healthcare practitioner in the State of California from 2020 through 2026. Clients call her “smart, knowledgeable, tactical, and strategically impressive,” and note that “she has a wealth of experience in the healthcare sector and is a decisive and strategic thinker.” She was also featured by The Best Lawyers in America® for her expertise in Health Care Law. The Legal 500 recognized her as a "Leading Partner" for Insurance and a “Next Generation Lawyer” in ERISA litigation. Among other accolades, Heather was named one of the "Top 40 Attorneys Under 40" in California by the Daily Journal, a “Top Attorney Under 40” by Law360, and was included on Benchmark Litigation’s “Under 40 List,” which honors the achievements of the nation's most accomplished legal partners of the age of 40 or younger. She has also been recognized as a California “Future Litigation Star.” Heather was named a “Rising Star” and one of Southern California’s top women attorneys for multiple consecutive years by Super Lawyers.
Representative matters include:
- Obtaining an eleventh-hour favorable settlement following openings and cross examination of one witness in a trial about emergency room provider reimbursement.
- Serving as trial counsel in a 5-week trial against the Massachusetts Attorney General in a trial over worker classification.
- Obtaining a complete victory in a confidential arbitration involving a business dispute between a medical group and MSO.
- Defeating certification of a putative class of health plan members alleging improper clinical denials.
- Securing a $37.4 million jury verdict against a group of surgery centers found liable for fraud, interference with contract, and unjust enrichment.
- Defeating certification of a putative class of members who were denied coverage for behavioral health care they received at residential treatment centers and who challenged the health plan's medical necessity determinations.
- Obtaining the complete dismissal with prejudice of a mass action brought by a group of surgery centers challenging facility reimbursement rates against a health plan and hundreds of its plan sponsors.
- Representing a managed care organization in a class action challenging the termination of network contracts with physicians, in which plaintiffs alleged causes of action for violation of the Lanham Act and California's Unfair Competition Law (Cal Bus. & Profs. Code § 17200 et seq).
- Securing complete dismissal of plaintiffs' claims against a managed care organization for wrongful death and denial of benefits, and ultimately the dismissal of the case in its entirety at summary judgment, in a highly-publicized lawsuit in which Plaintiffs alleged that a managed care organization caused the death of their daughter by denying coverage for a liver transplant.
- Securing complete victory for client in a confidential legal malpractice international arbitration.
- Representing a hospital system in multiple putative class actions in which plaintiffs assert claims for breach of privacy and a novel class theory for claims arising under California's Confidentiality of Medical Information Act.
- In an antitrust suit brought by a putative class of purchasers of pulse oximetry products, defeating class certification and winning summary judgment.
Heather graduated from UCLA School of Law in 2006. She also earned a degree of Master of Public Health from UCLA in 2006, with a specialization in Health Services. Heather graduated cum laude from Yale University in 2002, with a double-major in Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology and History.
Heather is a member of the California bar and is admitted to practice in the Supreme Court of the United States, U.S. Courts of Appeal across the country, and all federal courts in California. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Ninth Judicial Circuit Historical Society and the Board of Directors for Bet Tzedek Legal Services. Heather is also a Lecturer at UCLA School of Law, where she teaches Health Law & Policy.
Capabilities
- Litigation
- Class Actions
- Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) Litigation
- Environmental Litigation and Mass Tort
- FDA and Health Care
- Insurance and Reinsurance
- Labor and Employment
- Life Sciences
- Privacy, Cybersecurity, and Data Innovation
- Tech and Innovation
Credentials
Education:
- University of California, Los Angeles - 2006 Master of Public Health
- University of California, Los Angeles - 2006 Juris Doctor
- Yale University - 2002 Bachelor of Arts
Admissions:
- California Bar