Lucy G. Heil

She was appointed to a case of a family member of mine. She didn't have to be real,honest or listen to them like she did. She could have been like the more then a few other public defenders in the Clackamas county area that I have seen go through the motions in court but not ever take a minute to lis...ten to what the client is asking or saying. She remembered my family over a year later when I happen to come across her path again. She is so busy and yet gives you the connection you need in a overwhelming time like legal trouble. She is direct and works for what you really say the best she can. I wish she would teach a class for far to many others to are more worried about having lunch after court with that same judge and state D.A pushing you into some plea. She is the change we need!! We love you Lucy!

Ms. Heil was my court appointed attorney. I was nervous because of the reputations of court appointed attorneys. When I was arraigned I was looking around the room noticing the other court appointed attorneys. They looked unkempt, shirts untucked and I did not have a lot of faith in how the process w...as gonna go. When the judge called my name, Lucy appeared and I was pleasantly shocked. She was polished, professional and looked and sounded like an attorney you would see on television. After my arraignment she scheduled a meeting to meet with me. Instead of meeting at her office, we met where the incident occurred and she drove me around in order to re -enact exactly what happened so she could see what occurred through my eyes. She was incredibly insightful, and she immediately hired an investigator to speak to witnesses to the incident. Most importantly, she believed in me. I was alienated in high school because of the way I look and people always have misconceptions solely based on my appearance. Lucy was able to look beyond that and surmised that I has probably been blamed for something I didn’t do simply because of the way I look. It was pretty amazing how she understood that without me having to tell her. This case is my first encounter with the criminal justice system and it has been the source of so much stress and worry. However, after Lucy was appointed to represent me and after we got to know each other I felt as though a tremendous weight had been lifted off my shoulders. My case went to trial and resulted in me being found not guilty. This case was the source of so much stress and angst for me and my family. Again, I feel like I had won the lottery having Lucy represent me as she is like what I would imagine a $500 per hour attorney would be like. During trial, I was amazed at her ability to clearly make arguments that were easy to understand. The whole experience was a bit surreal as she was so good at trial, I felt like it was again like I was in a tv show, but it was my case. I am so thankful to her and hopefully we won’t ever have to go through another experience like that, but just thinking about her puts a smile on my face. I am forever grateful.