Nick Oberheiden

Dr. Nick Oberheiden (February 8, 1978) is a German-American jurist who practices federal and international law in the United States, South America, and Europe.
Oberheiden belongs to a small group of lawyers fully trained and experienced in the world’s two predominant legal systems, the European civil law tradition and the Anglo-American common law tradition. Among other places, Oberheiden studied law in Heidelberg, Munich, Hamburg, and Los Angeles and completed legal training in New York, Paris, and The Hague. Several publications have made Oberheiden one of the most demanded experts on Brazilian law.
Early life
Oberheiden was born into a traditional German family on February 8, 1978. His father, Dr. Ralf Oberheiden, is a retired cardiologist and heart surgeon, who is married to Oberheiden’s mother, Monika Oberheiden.
Oberheiden’s brother, Dr. Tom Oberheiden, is a cardiologist and a Doctor of Medicine, who practices as board certified internist and cardiologist in Germany. The family grew up together until, in 2004, Oberheiden moved to the United States, where he became a permanent resident in 2012.
Education
Oberheiden received a Juris Doctor degree from the University of California at Los Angeles, School of Law, a Juris Doctor equivalent from the University of Hamburg, School of Law, and a Doctor of Law (doctor iuris) from the University of Heidelberg, School of Law.
At UCLA School of Law, Oberheiden became the first student to transfer from the Master of Law Program, designed for foreign lawyers, to the regular Juris Doctor program. In fact, by accomplishing this move, Oberheiden set a new precedent for the entire state of California and the Regents of California university system.
In 2007, the UCLA Law faculty awarded Oberheiden the prestigious Morris Greenspan Memorial Prize for demonstrated excellence in international law.
In 2011, the University of Heidelberg, which opened in the year 1386, conferred the title of doctor iuris with Great Honor to Oberheiden. The Heidelberg Law Faculty accepted Oberheiden’s doctoral thesis, which analytically and empirically examined the question to what extent Supreme Court justices may consider the legal practice and laws of other countries when interpreting their own constitution. In preparation of his almost 300-page thesis, Oberheiden engaged in substantial dialogues with scholars and judges alike, among them U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, the former Chief Justice of Brazil, the current Chief Justice of Brazil, the former Chief Justice of Peru, and high court judges in Egypt, South Africa and Namibia, to name just a few. The thesis was supervised by late Professor Dr. Winfried Brugger, LL.M., and Professor Dr. Dr. h.c. Rüdiger Wolfrum of Heidelberg Law School and successfully defended in June 2011 before the Heidelberg Law Faculty.
Prior to joining UCLA Law School, Oberheiden graduated as Diplom-Jurist, the German equivalent to the Juris Doctor, after completing a total of six years of studies at the law schools of Munich and Hamburg, Germany.
Professional career & admissions
Oberheiden spent his first years of practice in the dispute resolution group of White & Case, LLP, a leading international law firm with currently 39 offices worldwide. Although a resident of White & Case New York headquarters, Oberheiden’s fluency in multiple languages quickly made him a liaison to the firm's overseas offices.
Before joining White & Case, LLP, Dr. Oberheiden gained valuable practical experience as stagiaire with Clifford Chance, LLP (Paris), Baker & McKenzie, LLP (Chicago, New York, Munich), and Chadbourne & Park, LLP (New York), as well as at the Office of the Prosecutor of the United Nations, International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (The Hague, Netherlands).
Since 2011, Oberheiden is the principal of the Oberheiden Law Firm P.L.L.C. with headquarters in New York and satellite offices in Washington D.C. and Dallas, Texas. Oberheiden made public headlines when he set a new federal precedent with respect to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure in 2012.
Oberheiden is admitted to practice law in New York and Washington D.C. as well as before the United States Court of International Trade, various United States’ Courts of Appeal, the U.S. District Court for the Southern and Eastern District of New York and the U.S. District Court for the Northern, Southern, and the Eastern District of Texas.
Pro bono
Oberheiden’s extensive pro bono services to the community have been recognized in forms of several appointments and awards.
Oberheiden served as Judge in both the Philip Jessup International Law Moot Court and the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot Court in Vienna, Austria and New York, respectively.
For his relentless time, energy, and services to underprivileged high school students in the Bronx, New York, White & Case, LLP enrolled Oberheiden in the firm’s worldwide Pro Bono Honor Roll.

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