A Reputation For Being Tough, Since 1953

Headshot of Marilyn Heiken

Marilyn A. Heiken

  • Attorney, 1995

Contact Info:

541-484-2434

Photo of attorney Marilyn Heiken

Biography:

Shareholder Marilyn Heiken is a champion for injured people and their families. She represents those harmed by medical errors, defective products, negligent driving, unsafe boating, and other dangerous conduct. Marilyn maintains the highest ethical and professional standards, and she is careful and thorough in her work. She is driven by a desire to get the best possible result for her clients, and to hold wrongdoers accountable. Heiken was part of the trial team that obtained an $89,000,000 verdict in 2023 against PacifiCorp in a class action arising out of the Oregon labor day fires of 2020.

Marilyn graduated from the University of Oregon with an English Literature degree in 1987, summa cum laude, and the University of Oregon School of Law in 1992. From 1991-1992, Marilyn served as the director of the Women's Law Forum, where she earned the Anna E. Wood award for leadership of women. Anna E. Wood was the first woman to graduate from the University of Oregon law school in 1896. 

Marilyn began her legal career as an intern for the St. Andrew Legal Clinic in Portland, where she worked with low-income people in need of criminal and civil legal services. After law school, Marilyn clerked for the Honorable Pierre Van Rysselberghe, before beginning work with Johnson Johnson Lucas & Middleton in 1995.

Marilyn dedicates her entire practice to representing plaintiffs in civil litigation. She has worked on a wide variety of personal injury cases, from complex environmental cases with multiple deaths, medical malpractice cases against hospitals, traumatic brain injuries from boating incidents, dangerous construction sites, to more straightforward motor vehicle collisions. No matter what kind of case it is, Marilyn works closely with a team of lawyers and legal professionals to do everything they can to help clients fight for justice, get the compensation they deserve, and have their voices heard.

She has served as a volunteer for numerous professional associations and volunteer boards, including Womenspace and the Oregon League of Conservation Voters. She is a long time member of the Oregon Trial Lawyers Association and the American Association for Justice. She has also been appointed by the Oregon Supreme Court to the Oregon State Bar Disciplinary Board for Region 2 (Lane County), beginning January 1, 2024. One of her favorite projects is her work as an editor and author for the Oregon State Bar and the Professional Liability Fund. She has been an editor of the influential OSB Torts Handbook since 1996, and she recently became an editor of the Professional Liability Fund's volume entitled "Oregon Statutory Time Limitations." 

Raised in the Ozarks in Southern Missouri, Marilyn moved to Jacksonville, Oregon with her family when she was nine. She loves to be outside with her dog near the water -- at the river, the lake, or the beach. She also likes making things with her hands; she knits, paints, quilts, and is a silver smith. She reads voraciously, with a particular interest in adventures, mysteries, detective stories, space aliens, and dragons. Her husband, Doug, is an environmental advocate for Oregon Wild, and her daughter, Emma, is a legislative analyst for the City and County of San Francisco.

She's on the Board of the Hope and Safety Alliance beginning in 2024.

Practice Areas:

  • Medical Malpractice
  • Industrial and Workplace Accidents
  • Vehicle and Truck Accidents
  • Defective Products
  • Catastrophic Incidents

Education:

  • University of Oregon School of Law, Eugene, Oregon
    • J.D. - 1992
    • Honors: Anna E. Wood Award for Leadership of Women
  • Reed College, Portland, Oregon
    • 1983
    • Major: Classics
  • University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon
    • Bachelor's Degree - 1987
    • Honors: summa cum laude
    • Major: English Literature

Professional Associations:

  • Oregon State Bar
  • American Bar Association
  • Oregon Trial Lawyers Association
  • Lane County Bar Association
  • American Association for Justice
  • Oregon Trial Lawyers Association, Publications Committee
  • Oregon State Bar Torts Publication, Editorial Board
  • Delegate to Oregon State Bar House of Delegates, Region 2
  • Oregon State Bar Professional Responsibility Local Committee
  • OTLA Amicus Committee, Member
  • Oregon State Bar Disciplinary Board for Region 2 (Lane County), Oregon Supreme Court, 01/2024 to Present

Bar Admissions:

  • Oregon
  • U.S. District Court District of Oregon

Published Works:

  • “Records Do Not Lie: How an Audit Trail Can Lead to Truth,” OTLA Trial Lawyer, Summer 2023
  • “Workers’ Compensation Liens in Third Party Claims,” OTLA Trial Lawyer, Summer 2019
  • “Potential Malpractice Trap in the OTCA,” PLF in Brief, January 2019
  • Co-Author, “Characters Who Shaped Our Character,” OTLA Trial Lawyer, Summer 2017
  • “Landslide,” OTLA Trial Lawyer, Winter 2016
  • Co-Author, “Wrongful Death and Survival of Personal Injury Actions,” 2 TORTS (OSB Legal Pubs, 2012)
  • Co-Author, “Medical Malpractice,” Chapter 11, 1 TORTS (OSB Legal Pubs, 2006)
  • "Professional Negligence", (Co-Authored), Chapter 11, 2 TORTS, Oregon State Bar CLE, 2006
  • 1 & 2 TORTS, (Co-Editor), Oregon State Bar CLE, 2000, 2006
  • "Elder Abuse and the Civil Justice System", (Co-Authored), Oregon State Bar, Elder Law Section Newsletter, Winter, 2006
  • "Pleasure Boating";, Trial Magazine, Oregon Trial Lawyers Association, Winter, 2005
  • “The Law and Pleasure Boating,” OTLA Trial Lawyer, Winter 2005
  • “Nursing Homes and Unsafe Premises,” OTLA Trial Lawyer, Spring 2003
  • "Litigation Websites", (Co-Authored), Oregon State Bar, Products Liability Newsletter, Volume VIII, Number 2, Spring, 1998
  • Editorial Board, Oregon Torts CLE, Oregon State Bar Publication (1996 to present)