Susan Heider

Susan's area of expertise is medical malpractice and dependent adult and elder abuse and neglect defense litigation throughout California. Susan handles issues involving standard of care and causation, proper credentialing of physicians (Elam claims), record keeping and charting and compliance with state and federal regulations. Her entire legal career as an attorney has been dedicated to the defense of health care providers, including doctors, nurses and other providers at hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers. She fosters strong client relationships so that she can ensure a quality defense for each client.

Over the last 25+ years, Susan has successfully defended her clients against claims involving birth injuries, complex medical conditions of the brain, spine, joints, and organs, complications during and after surgery, falls and injuries in the inpatient and outpatient settings. She works closely with medical and nursing experts to defend allegations. She resolves cases regularly through effective law and motion practice and strategic settlement negotiations, including mediation and other ADR settings.

Susan's background includes a decade of paralegal experience and honing her trial advocacy skills by attending the prestigious ABOTA Trial School.

These experiences enable Susan to bring a focused, meticulous approach to her work. “I pride myself on being detail oriented and learning as many facts as I can about each case. I present my clients with a thorough evaluation, including any unfavorable facts, in order to formulate the best possible defense strategy. Each case presents unique medical issues to be explored, although understanding the medicine is only half the battle. A case can turn on the strength or weakness of a witness, on the medical history of the patient, or on the documentation, or lack thereof, in the medical records.”