Joshua B. Heiman serves as Counsel both in the downtown San Diego office of Klinedinst PC, and in the Bay Area. With a robust background as both an attorney and consultant, Mr. Heiman is a legal and business advisor who offers strategic counsel to C-Suite executives and senior management across various business dimensions. This encompasses product counseling, compliance, venture funding, trademark issues, privacy concerns, software licensing, procurement, intellectual property, technology matters, and original equipment manufacturer (OEM) agreements.
As a Certified Information Privacy Professional with extensive experience in privacy matters, Mr. Heiman’s practice focuses on privacy counsel and particularly those related to Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. As a lecturer and policy analyst, he has significantly contributed to the California Lawyers Association as the Board Representative for the Privacy Law Section.
Before joining Klinedinst, Mr. Heiman founded and served as the Managing Director at Data Law in San Francisco. He also held senior legal positions at prominent specialty firms, including Binder & Malter LLP and Ribera Law Offices. His experience includes providing complex legal support to Fortune 500 companies, advising on data protection and information security laws, and complying with both U.S. and global regulations, such as the EU GDPR. Mr. Heiman also served as General Counsel to NightFloat, Inc., a medical translation software developer.
Mr. Heiman possesses deep experience in compliance issues relating to consumer-facing tech products, covering privacy, data protection, intellectual property, and consumer protection laws. His practice extends to significant U.S. regulations, including the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), among others.
Beyond transactional work, Mr. Heiman has substantial litigation experience. He represents clients through all phases of intricate litigation across multiple jurisdictions, handling disputes that range from commercial conflicts to medical malpractice. With experience in managing large teams of attorneys and staff, Mr. Heiman has developed strategic approaches for successful case outcomes.
An advocate for privacy law, Mr. Heiman is a co-founder and executive committee member of the California Lawyers Association Privacy Law Section. In this role, He has provided ad hoc advice to California’s Governor’s Office, Assembly, and Office of the Attorney General on policy matters relating to privacy law.
In 2005, Mr. Heiman wrote “Can Elvish Gold Ever Be Real Money? The Numismatic Qualities of Virtual Currency under the Law”. It is considered one of the first legal treatises on virtual currency, the precursor to cryptocurrency and bitcoin.
Education
- Stanford Law School, Graduate Scholar, Center for Internet & Society (CIS)
- University of San Francisco Law School, J.D.
- University of California, Berkeley, B.A.
