David L. Heilberg

Phone: (434) 284-6866
Fax: (434) 284-6877

​Criminal Defense

• Criminal Law, misdemeanors, felonies
• Traffic Offenses, reckless driving, eluding law enforcement
• DUI/DWI/Drunk Driving/OVI/OWI
• UVA Title IX administrative disciplinary proceedings

Personal Injury

• Automobile Personal Injury plaintiff’s cases

Mr. Heilberg is practicing in his fifth decade helping clients throughout central Virginia with assistance in criminal defense, automobile personal injury, and other matters. Mr. Heilberg has tried cases before a jury on over 100 occasions. He has advocated on behalf of individuals facing charges including capital murder, driving under the influence, assault, and white-collar crimes such as embezzlement and fraud.

A 1975 graduate of Union College, with a BA in political science, Mr. Heilberg was awarded his JD from Washington and Lee University School of Law in 1979 before admission to practice before all Virginia courts. He was subsequently admitted to practice before the U.S. District Courts for the Western and Eastern Districts of Virginia, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court. Prior to entering private practice in 1982, Mr. Heilberg spent three years as the Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney for Harrisonburg and Rockingham County. For at least the next 10 years, Mr. Heilberg was appointed as Acting Commonwealth’s Attorney to serve as a special prosecutor of certain cases in the City of Charlottesville and Albemarle, Greene, and Fluvanna Counties. Also, early in his private practice career, he engaged in general law practice covering many more legal subject matters.

Through 2023 fellow professionals recommended Mr. Heilberg for an AV* peer review rating through Martindale-Hubbell/Lawyers.com, a 10.0 “Superb” peer review rating through Avvo and he has been selected to Super Lawyers: 2011 – 2023. He is a former President (2011) and board member of the Virginia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and he has been an active participant in the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

Mr. Heilberg handles cases in every state and federal court for a distance covering approximately 60 miles in every direction around Charlottesville including the cities of Staunton, Waynesboro, and Harrisonburg/Rockingham County.  Cases are taken in the Counties of Albemarle, Greene, Fluvanna, Nelson, Madison, Orange, Louisa, Culpeper, Augusta, Goochland, Buckingham, and Lexington/Rockbridge.  Cases are accepted in the Charlottesville and Harrisonburg Divisions of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia.  Appeals have been handled in the Virginia Supreme Court, the Virginia (intermediate) Court of Appeals, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit. Mr. Heilberg is also a member of the U.S. Supreme Court bar.

He taught as an adjunct faculty for Trial Advocacy at the Washington & Lee School of Law. He is regularly invited to deliver presentations on criminal law topics before groups of fellow professionals as well as college and law school students. Along with Corinne Magee and Timothy Carwile, he is the co-editor of Defending Criminal Cases in Virginia (2012, 2016, 2018 and 2020 editions), a practice manual for professionals in this field, and is the author of Chapter 8: Eyewitness Identification Procedures, distributed by Virginia Continuing Legal Education publications.

*AV Preeminent and BV Distinguished are certification marks of Reed Elsevier Properties Inc., used in accordance with the Martindale-Hubbell certification procedures, standards and policies. Martindale-Hubbell is the facilitator of a peer review rating process. Ratings reflect the confidential opinions of members of the bar and the judiciary. Martindale-Hubbell ratings fall into two categories: legal ability and general ethical standards.