SAN DIEGO, April 20, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight today announced that Meghan Heesch has joined the firm as a Partner in its San Diego office, where she will focus on ERISA litigation alongside partners Charles Field and Leigh Anne St. Charles. She will also join Andrew Macurdy as Co-Chair of the firm's national Trial Practice. Heesch brings an extraordinary record of public service and high-stakes litigation experience, further enhancing the firm's nationally recognized civil rights and social justice mission.
Heesch joins the firm from the U.S. Department of Justice, where she most recently served as an Immigration Judge in the Executive Office for Immigration Review. In that role, she presided over a wide range of proceedings, including removal cases, credible fear hearings, and bond determinations, while managing a high-volume docket with an emphasis on fairness, efficiency, and due process.
"Meghan is an exceptional trial lawyer and public servant whose experience, both in the courtroom and on the bench, will be invaluable to our clients," said David Sanford, Chairman of Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight. "She brings a rare combination of litigation skill, judgment, and leadership. Her background handling complex investigations and financial evidence will significantly strengthen our ERISA practice, and she will be an outstanding mentor to our lawyers as we continue to take on sophisticated, high-impact cases."
Prior to her judicial appointment, Heesch served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California. Over the course of her tenure, she represented the United States in thousands of criminal matters spanning fraud, public corruption, narcotics, and violent crime. She tried twelve federal jury trials to verdict and handled all phases of litigation, from investigation through sentencing. Heesch also developed deep expertise in analyzing complex financial and electronic evidence, including in multi-million-dollar fraud investigations, and regularly prepared detailed evidentiary records for grand jury proceedings and contested restitution hearings.
Among her most notable work, Heesch served as lead attorney on Operation Trojan Shield, a groundbreaking international investigation targeting transnational criminal organizations. The operation resulted in more than one thousand arrests worldwide and earned her the FBI Director's Award for Excellence in International Operations.
Earlier in her career, Heesch held roles with the Department of Justice's Executive Office for Immigration Review and the University of Minnesota Law School, where she trained and supervised future lawyers in immigration law and advocacy.
Heesch earned her J.D. from Harvard Law School, where she held multiple editorial roles on leading journals including as Managing Editor of the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review and was recognized for her commitment to public service. She received her undergraduate degree with distinction from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
"I am honored to join Sanford Heisler, a firm I have long admired for its fearless advocacy and commitment to justice. I look forward to contributing to the firm's ERISA practice," said Heesch. "This work is also deeply personal to me, having seen firsthand the devastating impact that mismanaged retirement investments can have on families. I am eager to represent clients taking on powerful institutions and to help secure the outcomes they deserve."
Heesch is the second Judge to move from the bench to partnership in the firm. She joins Kevin Sharp, former Chief Judge of the U.S District Court of the Middle District of Tennessee. Sanford Heisler Sharp McKnight is a leading national public interest law firm with six offices across the United States, representing individuals and institutions in complex litigation, including employment discrimination, wage and hour cases, whistleblower representation, public interest litigation, and retirement savings brought under ERISA.