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Heather Dembert Rafter has been providing legal and business development services to the audio, music technology, and digital media industries for over twenty-five years. As principal counsel at RafterMarsh US, she leads the RM team in providing sophisticated corporate and IP advice (US practice) and entertainment law services (UK) to content creators, hardware and software developers, and event producers, among others.

Heather served as Director of Legal Affairs and later General Counsel for Digidesign, the audio division of Avid Technology and the creator of the award-winning Pro Tools software. Heather was instrumental in the company’s acquisition of M-Audio and Sibelius Software and represented audio console leader Euphonix in its acquisition by Avid, as well as counsel for Imagine Research in its acquisition by iZotope, another audio industry flagship company.

She began her legal career as a litigation attorney at Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, focusing on intellectual property and commercial matters. Heather served as Chair of the American Bar Association Section of Science & Technology Law and is a member of the ABA’s Fund for Justice and Education.

Heather currently serves as an Advisor to Ardian, a French-based private equity firm, on the Board of Advisors of the Bob Moog Foundation and as a Senior Advisor for MediaBridge Capital, a leading investment banking and strategic advisory firm serving the media technology industry. Heather, an advocate for gender parity in the legal and music industry, also serves on the Boards of SoundGirls.org, and WiMN, the Women’s International Music Network.  A proud alumna, Heather serves on the advisory council for the Department of Music at Princeton University.
Heather is a graduate of Princeton University (A.B., Woodrow School of Public & International Affairs, magna cum laude) and Columbia University School of Law (J.D., Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar).

Heather’s sons both work in high tech, and her daughter is finishing her senior year at Princeton University. Heather is an avid yogi and fan of live music.