Heiting and Irwin

The only past President of the State Bar of California ever elected from the Inland Empire, James Heiting handles civil litigation matters throughout California, recovering over $100 million for clients, dealing with wrongful death, serious injury, professional malpractice and transportation accidents. Also past President of Riverside's County Bar, his firm has served the Inland Empire for over 30 years.

The managing partner of Heiting & Irwin has been practicing law since receiving his doctorate degree in law in 1976. Mr. Heiting is admitted to practice before all courts of the state, the federal courts, the United States Court of Federal Claims, and the California and United States Supreme Courts.

Mr. Heiting also served on the Board of Governors of the State Bar of California, was a co-founder of the Leo A. Deegan Inn of Court (training younger or less experienced members of the bar) and a charter member of the Inland Empire Federal Bar Association. He was president of the Other Bar (a statewide organization of judges and lawyers helping other lawyers and judges) 1991-1993, and a board member from 1988-2003 and again since 2006. He is or has been a member of multiple federal and state litigation, ethics, and trial associations. He is currently the American Bar Association west coast Commissioner appointed to the Commission on Lawyer Assistance Programs, studying, evaluating, and providing oversight and support for programs in nine states.

Mr. Heiting has served in a variety of roles in Superior Court and the Federal District Court. He is also sought after as a privately requested and court appointed arbitrator and mediator in state courts and the California Court of Appeal. He has been an invited speaker, lecturer and panelist for the State Bar and a variety of legal and community organizations.

Emphasizing civil litigation in his career, Mr. Heiting represents clients throughout the State in bringing and/or defending a wide variety of claims. He is recognized as an extremely successful, tough and tenacious lawyer.

Mr. Heiting and his wife Cindy were married in 1971 and have three sons. They live in Riverside.

Mr. Irwin is a recognized specialist in Workers' Compensation law. He has been certified as a specialist by the State Bar of California since 1995. He limits his practice to handling only workers' compensation cases.

Mr. Irwin was born in San Antonio, Texas, but has spent his entire adult life in Southern California.

Mr. Irwin has strong ties with the Riverside Community, having graduated from La Sierra High School in 1973 and having obtained an Associate in Arts degree from Riverside City College in 1975. His wife and two children were born and raised in Riverside, and both of his children currently attend the University of California at Riverside. Additionally, Mr. Irwin has been involved with coaching youth basketball, baseball, and soccer programs for over 15 years and is currently serving as the Director of Coaches for his community youth soccer league, which position he has held for the last 5 years. Mr. Irwin achieved a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from UCLA in 1977. He earned his J.D. from Southwestern University School of Law in 1980. Since 1989, he has handled exclusively workers' compensation cases and is a recognized certified specialist in that field. He is a member of the California Applicant's Attorney's Association and Workers' Compensation Section of the California State Bar. A strong supporter of rights of the injured worker, he is one of a select few State Bar Certified Specialists in the area.

Mr. Serrano grew up in British Columbia, Canada and moved to California when he was 20. He graduated with honors from California State University Dominguez Hills, receiving a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. While an undergraduate student, besides many community, sports, and school activities, Mr. Serrano worked in Washington D.C. as a Congressional Intern for a California Congressman.

Mr. Serrano was recruited and attended law school on a full scholarship. He received his law degree from the University of La Verne College of Law. While in law school, he was selected to be a member of the moot court honors program and the school's moot court traveling team in nationwide competitions. He also received a CALI award in the area of Legal Research. Admitted to practice before California State and Federal Courts, he has an active practice in both. He has argued before the California Court of Appeal for the Fifth District and has petitioned for California Supreme Court review. These are remarkable accomplishments for one relatively early in his law career. Mr. Serrano is on the Board of Directors for the Riverside County Bar Association and is the Past President of the Riverside County Barristers Association. He is also a member of the Leo A. Deegan American Inn of Court, the Riverside Chapter of an organization devoted to the fostering of excellence in professionalism, ethics, civility, and legal skills. Coming from a multi-lingual heritage, Mr. Serrano also speaks French fluently.

For more than twenty-two years, Joshua's practice has emphasized personal injury claims and other civil matters. He also assists clients with various estate planning needs, particularly in developing family and individual trusts. He began his career in the field of banking law, focusing on commercial transactions, business organizations, and real estate matters.

Joshua Cates attended the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, and then received his undergraduate degree from the University of California and his Juris Doctorate degree in 1978 from Washington University Law School in St. Louis, Missouri.

He is admitted to practice before state and federal courts not only in California, but also in Illinois, Missouri and Virginia. A native of Southern California, Joshua lives in the local mountain community of Wrightwood with his wife and three children.

Ms. Morgan attended UC Irvine as a National Merit and Chancellor’s Scholar, double-majoring in Sociology and Criminology. She obtained her Juris Doctor from Chapman University School of Law in Orange, California, where she served as a judicial clerk to Hon. Kirk H. Nakamura and as Secretary on the Minority Law Student Association’s executive board. After law school, Ms. Morgan opened her own general legal practice, offering services in the areas of civil, family, bankruptcy, business, and criminal law. She served as a research assistant to two Chapman Law professors, including one project researching tort reform for the United States Chamber of Commerce and Civil Justice Association of America.

Ms. Morgan is a Riverside native. A life-long baseball fan, she played at Arlington Little League and Victoria PONY League. She attended Arlignton High School, where she excelled at both volleyball and softball, earning top performance recognitions including First Team All-League and Most Valuable Player. Academically, Ms. Morgan graduated at the top of her class with Honors, and as an AVID student, provided tutoring to her fellow students. An avid outdoor enthusiast, Ms. Morgan enjoys fishing, boating, camping, and hiking. She is always looking for the next adventure with her Labrador Retriever, Jake, or her next project tinkering on cars with her dad.

Ms. Morgan contributes to the improvement of both the local and legal communities, having provided pro- and low-bono legal services, and volunteering at legal clinics and other programs serving the community. She maintains membership in the Los Angeles County Bar Association, Orange County Bar Association, Orange County Hispanic Bar Association, Riverside County Bar Association, and Riverside Barristers. Finally, she happily announces her membership into the Leo A. Deegan Inn of Court.

Dennis Stout is a native Californian with significant ties to the Inland Empire, where he continues to reside. A graduate of Upland High School, the University of California, Riverside (B.S. Economics), and the University of La Verne (J.D.), Mr. Stout has practiced law continuously since 1979. He has been married to his wife, Alicia (R.N., C.E.N., M.I.C.N.) since that same year, and they have three adult children, all of whom live in Southern California.

Mr. Stout spent the majority of his career with two civil liability defense firms: MacLachlan, Burford & Arias, and Middlebrook, Kaiser & Popka, where he gained a significant amount of trial experience as one of their main “go to” trial lawyers. He has been a member of the very highly regarded A.B.O.T.A. (American Board of Trial Advocates) since 2002. The last six years of his practice were with the Hegner/Ewaniszyk Law Firm in Victorville, California, where he practiced both plaintiff and defense personal injury/medical malpractice litigation throughout California.

Mr. Stout is an avid sports fan and participant, not only engaging in golf (a very low handicap) as often as he can, but also continuing to follow the progress of his alma mater University of California, Riverside, baseball! Family is an important part of his life, and he greatly enjoys regular contact and activities with his children, and now first grandson, including beach activities, camping and bicycling.

Dennis Stout is well-liked and extremely well respected by clients, lawyers and judges throughout the state. We are proud to be able to use his unique experience and insights gained in representing plaintiffs and in representing and defending insurance companies, cities, school districts, public entities, and individuals and companies to the advantage of our clients.

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