 After law school he clerked during the 1988-89 judicial term for the Honorable Frank M. Johnson, Jr., a well-known jurist portrayed by Martin Sheen in the 2014 movie "Selma".He taught intellectual property law at the University of Georgia Law School from 1989-2011 and was the youngest professor there to ever have been granted an endowed chair, the Allen Post Professorship.Heald has written four novels which constitute "The Clarkeston Chronicles"