Heather Sonnenberg

Partner, Blank Rome LLP

40 Under 40 Category: Legal Services

Biography:

Heather Sonnenberg concentrates her practice in commercial finance, with a particular focus on asset-based and cash-flow financing for various industry sectors, including manufacturing, healthcare, and other service industries.  Heather was a Blank Rome summer associate in 2002 and joined in 2003 upon her law school graduation. She quickly became one of its most talented associates, and the Firm elected her partner in 2013.She serves a wide range of clients, including banks, commercial finance companies, mezzanine lenders, and other institutional lenders, along with private equity firms, hedge funds and publicly and privately held corporations. Heather has been praised by clients of the firm for the depth of her legal knowledge, the quality of her advocacy and her unflappable ability to produce stellar results, often under trying circumstances. Heather is deeply committed to ongoing legal education and to the growth and development of younger attorneys. Through her organization of and active participation in ABA panels on commercial finance topics, her leadership of networking events for women in the Mid-Atlantic finance industry, and her mentoring of young associates and summer associates. Heather serves as chair of the Secured Lending Subcommittee and director to the Membership Committee for the Commercial Finance Committee of the Business Law Section of the American Bar Association. In addition, Heather’s leadership in the Go Red for Women Initiative in Philadelphia helped raise over $1.2 million. Heather displays all of the attributes one could hope for in a rising star.

When Heather was informed she had been selected as one of SFNet’s 40 Under 40, she said,

“I am truly honored to have been one of the individual selected among such a prestigious group. This recognition is merely a reflection of all the intelligent and creative individuals in the finance community whom have I have worked with over the years.”

Her nominator, Robert B. Stein, Blank Rome partner and co-chair, Finance, Restructuring, and Bankruptcy Practice Group, said, “We at Blank Rome couldn’t be more pleased that Heather Sonnenberg has been named as a recipient of the Commercial Finance Association’s 40 Under 40 Award. Heather exemplifies the spirit of the Award; she’s an outstanding lawyer, and is tirelessly committed to both client and community service. We’ve known for a long time how accomplished Heather is, and we’re thrilled that through this Award, her peers in the commercial finance industry will get to know her better as well.”