Heather A. DeGrave is an attorney in the law firm of Walters Levine Klingensmith & Thomison, P.A. where she practices in the areas of construction, collections and business litigation.
PROFESSIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS
Heather is a pivotal member of the Firm’s civil litigation team. Her experience in commercial collections litigation and construction related litigation includes the institution of lien foreclosure actions
and the protection of creditors’ rights in bankruptcy and mortgage foreclosure actions. She has also advised construction clients on construction
lien and bond law and has assisted in the drafting and review of contracts,
subcontracts and credit applications. Heather also regularly speaks on collections
and construction related topics for the National Association of Credit Management
and the National Business Institute.
Heather is admitted to practice before all state courts in Florida, the U.S. District
Court for the Middle District of Florida, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for
the Middle District of Florida, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District
of Florida, and the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida.
EDUCATION AND SCHOLASTICS
Heather
received her Bachelor of Arts degree in International
Studies, magna cum laude, from Oglethorpe University with a
minor in Spanish. While at Oglethorpe, she studied abroad at
the Universidad de Salamanca, in Salamanca, Spain. Heather
received her law degree from the Georgetown University Law
Center. While in law school, she was a member of the
Georgetown Journal of Legal Ethics and of the Alternative
Dispute Resolution team as well as a law
fellow in the Legal Research and Writing Department.
As a visiting student
at the
Stetson University College of Law, she received the Victor
O. Wehle Award for Trial Advocacy.
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
Heather is
a member of the board of directors of the National Association
of Women in Construction - Tampa Chapter and the Junior League of Sarasota.
Heather is also a member of
Harvest United Methodist Church and has served on its trustees committee. Heather is also a member of the Hillsborough
County Bar Association, the
Sarasota County Bar Association, the Manatee
and
Hillsborough Chapters of the Florida Association for Women Lawyers,
and the Gulf Coast Builders Exchange.
Recently, Heather and her husband became foster parents and are currently caring for a foster child.