About Joan Heishman
Joan Heishman Proper began her professional path in classrooms. She earned a B.A. from Virginia Tech in 1994 and a Master of Education from the University of Virginia in 2002. After several years in teaching, she turned to law and completed her J.D. in 2007.
Her early career blended education and law. She worked as a teacher in Fairfax County Public Schools and at Holy Spirit School in the late 1990s. Those roles preceded a stint as a law clerk and then an associate at William B. Reichhardt & Associates, where she began in 2005 and continued after earning her degree.
Proper joined the bar and became active in the Virginia legal community in the mid-2000s. She has been a member of the Virginia State Bar since 2007 and holds memberships in several local and statewide organizations, including the Fairfax Bar Association and the Virginia Women Lawyers Association. She is part of the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association and the Prince William County Bar Association. Her involvement with the Virginia Bar Association’s Commission on the Needs of Children and the Council of Parent Lawyers and Advocates reflects sustained interest in matters affecting children and families.
In 2014 she opened The Law Office of Joan H. Proper, PC. Since then she has handled matters that draw on both her classroom background and courtroom experience. Her teaching certification and school administrator credentials from the Virginia Department of Education inform how she approaches disputes that touch on schools, students, and parents. Colleagues note that she brings familiarity with educational settings into legal advocacy.
Proper’s professional trajectory shows a steady move from education into law. She balances courtroom work with advocacy tied to children’s issues and civil litigation practice. She remains active in bar associations and organizations that connect law and education. She currently practices from her firm in Virginia and focuses her practice on issues involving education, children, and related civil matters.
