For the last eighteen years, Lane Heard has devoted his time to the defense of mass tort pharmaceutical claims, with principal responsibility for coordinating the national defense: appearing monthly before the multidistrict judge, trying the bellwether cases, arguing the appeals, writing the major (and minor) briefs, and providing guidance to local counsel.

Mr. Heard's practice over the past thirty years has involved an array of litigation matters, including the defense of medical malpractice, legal malpractice, libel, and commercial disputes, as well as the defense of individuals accused of murder, rape, and bribery. As counsel for plaintiffs, he has represented individuals, Vietnamese orphans who survived the crash of their evacuation flight, and one of the corporate partners in a half-billion dollar dispute arising from the collapse of a reservations-system software development project.

Mr. Heard is a member of the Yale Divinity School advisory board, The School Year Abroad board of trustees, and the vestry of St. Columba's Episcopal Church and serves as a literary executor of the Frank M. Johnson, Jr. papers at the Library of Congress. He is former president of the Kingsley Trust Association and past Chair of the Sidwell Friends School Board of Trustees.