About Heena
Heena Patel earned her undergraduate degree from the University of California, San Diego in 2003, where she studied sociology and law and society. She went on to Southwestern University School of Law and completed her J.D. in 2007. Those years framed an early interest in public defense and issues affecting young people and families.
Her legal training began in a series of internships and clerkships that placed her in public defender environments. During law school she interned at McCarthy and Holthus LLP and the Law Office of Swati Desai. She served as a law clerk for the Los Angeles County Public Defender’s office in 2005 and later worked as a legal intern at the Law Office of Seki, Nishimura & Watase in 2006. After graduating, she joined the Los Angeles County Public Defender as a deputy public defender in 2007.
Patel moved from the public defender’s office into private practice in 2015 when she opened the Law Office of Heena Patel. She later served as an independent juvenile defender for the Los Angeles County Bar Association in 2019. Her career path shows steady work inside systems that handle juvenile and criminal matters, and it reflects sustained courtroom exposure from early in her career.
She holds memberships in a number of professional organizations. She has served on the board of the South East Asian Bar Association since 2010. She also maintains memberships in the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the California Public Defenders Association, both listed as ongoing since 2010. These affiliations align with the kind of public defense work that has marked much of her career.
Today she is the principal owner of the Law Office of Heena Patel, operating offices in Diamond Bar and Santa Ana. Her practice continues to handle juvenile defense and criminal matters that arose from her years as a deputy public defender and as an independent juvenile defender. She handles cases across California and manages a practice that balances courtroom work with client counseling and case preparation.
She currently maintains the Law Office of Heena Patel and focuses her practice on juvenile and criminal defense matters.
