Heather Borlase, Founder

I understand that you may be going through one of the hardest things you have ever experienced right now.  Selecting the right lawyer may even feel overwhelming.  Let me help by telling you how and why I do this work. 

I’ve spent my career advancing civil rights. 

I worked as a volunteer rape counselor and community educator for the oldest rape crisis center in the country – an experience that forever changed me.  Seeing women subjugated through sexual and interpersonal violence fueled my desire to create safe environments for them, to find ways to end cycles of violence and trauma, and to hold perpetrators accountable.

My first step was learning how to conduct investigations at the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia and the Behavioral Science Unit of the FBI Academy in Quantico, VA during graduate school.  The technical understanding of evidence collection and analysis that I gained in these roles, coupled with decades of experience interviewing parties and witnesses in legal actions, make me a detailed, thorough, and proficient neutral investigator. I then became an employment law attorney, representing employees who were underpaid, harassed, or the victims of discrimination or retaliation.  I am privileged to have helped hundreds of people hold their employers accountable for breaking the law in both individual and class actions.

In 2018, inspired by Tamara Burke’s work and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing, I shifted my focus to enforcement of Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972.  Title IX states:

“No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance[.]”

I began investigating claims of harassment, discrimination, retaliation, and violations of VAWA and Title IX as a Complaint Resolution Officer at one of the top medical schools in the United States.  Building on this foundation, I next served as a Title IX Coordinator and Discrimination, Harassment, and Retaliation Administrator for a university in the country’s largest public higher education system.  I headed the office that addressed reports of all potential misconduct, including sexual violence and sexual harassment, in a trauma-informed manner, working with students, staff, faculty, and administrators to help make the campus safe and welcoming for everyone.

These experiences inspire and inform my work every day.  

Whether you are seeking a neutral workplace investigator, an attorney, or an administrative process advisor, I look forward to discussing how our services can meet your needs.