Heather G. Hacker

Heather Gebelin Hacker brings over 15 years of experience in high-stakes appellate and trial litigation to the firm. Heather has handled cases involving environmental, administrative, employment, and criminal law, interstate water disputes, and has extensive experience in constitutional law. Before starting Hacker Stephens LLP, Heather served as an Assistant Solicitor General in the Texas Attorney General’s office, representing the State in its most critical appellate litigation and advising senior officials and state agencies on important legal issues.



Her clients have included the Governor of Texas, the Attorney General of Texas, the University of Texas System, the University of Texas at Austin, the Texas Legislature, Texas’s largest state agency, the former Chief Justice of the Thirteenth Court of Appeals, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, and Dallas County.



Heather has argued numerous times before state and federal appellate courts, including ten times at the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. She has argued at the Texas Supreme Court and multiple times at the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Heather has authored appellate briefs in the Second, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Ninth, and D.C. Circuits.

Heather also has significant experience in the U.S. Supreme Court, where she has authored briefs at both the certiorari and merits stage, in an original action, as well as numerous amicus curiae briefs on behalf of multi-state coalitions. She received a National Association of Attorneys General Best Brief Award for excellence in brief writing before the U.S. Supreme Court during the 2016 Term.

In addition to her appellate work, Heather regularly litigates cases at the trial level and has handled multiple trials involving significant constitutional, civil rights, and statutory issues. Because of her broad experience handling cases from pre-litigation through appeal, Heather understands the importance of ensuring that errors and arguments are preserved and creating a favorable record so that her clients ultimately prevail, even in the most difficult cases.

State Bar of Texas

State Bar of California

State Bar of Arizona (inactive)

U.S. Supreme Court

United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit

United States District Court for the Northern and Western Districts of Texas

United States District Court for the Northern, Eastern, Central, and Southern Districts of California

United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida

United States District Court for the Central District of Illinois

United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin

United States District Court for the District of Arizona (inactive)

University of Pennsylvania Law School, J.D., 2005 (Senior Editor, University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law, Exemplary Public Service Award, Blackstone Fellow)

University of California, Los Angeles, B.A. cum laude, 2002 (Regents Scholar)