Heather Marie Ferbert is an American lawyer and educator serving as the

San Diego City Attorney The San Diego City Attorney is an elected official who serves as the chief legal adviser to the City of San Diego. The city attorney is responsible for representing the city government in legal matters and for prosecuting misdemeanor and infracti ...

since December 2024. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served as Chief Deputy City Attorney under her predecessor, Mara Elliott.

Early life and education

Ferbert was born in California. She attended

California State University, Long Beach California State University, Long Beach (CSULB), also known in athletics as Long Beach State University (LBSU), is a public teaching-focused institution in Long Beach, California, United States. The 322-acre campus is the second largest in the ...

, where she was a member of the

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

honor society and graduated with a bachelor's degree in 2002. She then obtained her

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

from the

University of San Diego School of Law The University of San Diego School of Law (USD Law) is the law school of the University of San Diego, a private Roman Catholic research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1954, the law school has held ABA approval since 1961. It ...

in 2006.

Career

Ferbert began her legal career in private practice, working for a firm that handled property transactions and policymaking with the San Diego Housing Commission. In 2014, she joined the San Diego City Attorney's Office, eventually rising to the position of Chief Deputy City Attorney. In this role, she led the legal team advising the

San Diego City Council The San Diego City Council is the legislative branch of government for the City of San Diego. The city council was first established in San Diego in 1850. The council is part of a strong mayor system with a separately elected mayor who acts as th ...

and ensuring compliance with the law across city departments. Her work encompassed

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...

issues, facilitating the opening of emergency homeless shelters, and prosecuting real estate fraud cases. She wrote the city's temporary

eviction Eviction is the removal of a Tenement (law), tenant from leasehold estate, rental property by the landlord. In some jurisdictions it may also involve the removal of persons from premises that were foreclosure, foreclosed by a mortgagee (often ...

moratorium in 2022 and the unsafe camping ban in 2023. She has also taught at the University of San Diego School of Law, her

alma mater Alma mater (; : almae matres) is an allegorical Latin phrase meaning "nourishing mother". It personifies a school that a person has attended or graduated from. The term is related to ''alumnus'', literally meaning 'nursling', which describes a sc ...

, since 2018. Ferbert ran for San Diego City Attorney in the 2024 election. She was endorsed by outgoing City Attorney Mara Elliott, the Deputy City Attorneys Association of San Diego, and the

San Diego Union-Tribune ''The San Diego Union-Tribune'' is a metropolitan daily newspaper published in San Diego, California, that has run since 1868. Its name derives from a 1992 merger between the two major daily newspapers at the time, ''The San Diego Union'' and ...

. Ferbert and California state assemblymember Brian Maienschein advanced from the March 2024 primary with 53.2% and 46.8% of the vote, respectively. Ferbert went on to defeat Maienschein in the general election with 56.8% of the vote.

Electoral history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ferbert, Heather Living people Politicians from San Diego California State University, Long Beach alumni University of San Diego School of Law alumni 21st-century American women politicians San Diego city attorneys California Democrats Women in California politics 21st-century American women lawyers 21st-century American lawyers 21st-century California politicians Year of birth missing (living people)