Nathan P. Heller

Nathan P. Heller

Of Counsel
Philadelphia
About

Nate Heller serves as a business lawyer and litigator with deep experience primarily serving the automotive industry.  His work covers class action litigation, supplier and supply chain disputes, product liability, insurance, and indemnification matters.

He has represented automotive clients in multidistrict litigation and nationwide class action matters, including jurisdictional challenges.  He also advises on supply chain disputes between manufacturers and their Tier 1 suppliers.   

Nate has over a decade of experience dealing with cross-border discovery issues in complex litigation.  He assists non-U.S. clients in fulfilling U.S. discovery obligations while complying with local privacy laws, such as the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”), the Korean Personal Information Protection Act, and similar laws.

 
Areas of FocusLitigation, Arbitration and InvestigationsAppellate
Bar admissionsNew JerseyPennsylvania

EXPERIENCE

  • Ongoing representation of OEM and Tier 1 supplier in multiple airbag-related multidistrict litigation matters
  • Won appeal of order dismissing nationwide class action against automotive OEM
  • Won dismissal of a RICO case alleging fraud by a foreign affiliate of a global manufacturing company
  • Obtained defense verdict at trial in a case alleging professional fraud against a multinational real estate services company
  • Counseled automotive Tier 1 supplier regarding indemnification obligations in disputes with its OEM customers
  • Defeated multiple class certification matters on behalf of a national insurance company involved in class action coverage disputes
  • Obtained an appellate victory following adverse trial verdict for a multinational manufacturer in a breach-of-contract action stemming from the closure of a manufacturing facility
  • Created an enterprise-wide compliance program for a global automotive coatings manufacturer
 

Awards

The Legal 500 United States

  • Recommended, Product Liability, Mass Tort and Class Action: Automotive/Transport (2024)

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Pro Bono

Nathan maintains an active pro bono practice at DLA Piper and has recently represented a victim of sex trafficking in obtaining vacatur of more than one hundred criminal convictions that the victim incurred while being trafficked in multiple US jurisdictions.

Education
  • J.D., Villanova University School of Law
  • B.A., English, Messiah University 

Bylines

  • Co-author, "Court Affirms Deferential Role in Reviewing Class Certification Decisions," The Legal Intelligencer, October 13, 2011
  • Co-author, "Rethinking Rebates in Predatory Pricing Cases," The Legal Intelligencer, September 5, 2010

Clerk Experience

Before joining DLA Piper, Nathan served as a judicial clerk to the Honorable Kent A. Jordan of the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and to the Honorable Christopher C. Conner of the US District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. 

My latest insights

News

Litigator of the Week Runners-Up and Shout-Outs

5 November 2025

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Phone

+1 215 656 3372
(Work, Philadelphia)