About Heidi
Heidi Chapman earned an A.B. in German from Duke University in 1976 and completed her J.D. at the University of North Carolina School of Law in 1983. Those academic years set the stage for an early immersion in appellate work and later deep experience in workers' compensation matters. The study of language and law gave her an unusual combination of analytical precision and attention to detail.
Her first legal position after law school was as a judicial clerk to the Honorable Charles Becton at the North Carolina Court of Appeals in 1983. The clerkship exposed her to a steady stream of appellate opinion writing and legal research. In 1985 she joined Besking and Rudolf, P.A., where she moved into trial work and client representation. Four years later she established her own firm, practicing under the name Heidi G. Chapman, PLLC beginning in 1989 and continuing independent practice thereafter.
Chapman has long been active in bar and professional organizations. She served as President of the 15B Division of the North Carolina State Bar and as President of the North Carolina Association of Women Lawyers in 1989. She later took leadership roles in trial lawyer groups, co-chairing the North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers Workers’ Compensation Section in 2007–2008, and serving as Program Co-Chair for Workplace Torts & Workers’ Comp. for NC Advocates for Justice from 2008 to 2014. She also holds memberships in the North Carolina Academy of Trial Lawyers, North Carolina Association of Women Lawyers, North Carolina Advocates for Justice, and the North Carolina Bar Association.
Her professional credentials include Board Certification as a Specialist in Workers’ Compensation Law by the North Carolina Board of Legal Specialization. That certification recognizes a sustained practice in the field and peer-reviewed competence in handling workers’ compensation matters. Over the years she has represented clients in administrative hearings and related trial-level matters, and has participated in educational programming for other lawyers on workplace injury topics.
Today she maintains an office as Heidi Chapman PLLC in North Carolina. Her work combines courtroom experience, appellate training and organizational leadership. Her practice focuses on workers’ compensation and workplace torts.
