Professor Berkheiser earned her J.D. magna cum laude in 1984 from the University of Arizona. She was editor-in-chief of the Arizona Law Review and earned the Outstanding Senior Award. She was a law clerk to Arizona Supreme Court Justice Stanley Feldman, and spent eight years as an attorney with Meyer, Hendricks, Victor, Osborn & Maledon in Phoenix, Arizona, where she practiced in the areas of employment law, appellate litigation and professional liability defense. She has prosecuted and defended appeals in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Arizona Supreme Court, and Arizona Court of Appeals. Professor Berkheiser taught in the Law School Clinic at the Arizona State University College of Law from 1995 to 1998 in the areas of employment, housing, and consumer law. Professor Berkheiser is the Director of the Juvenile Justice Clinic, and teaches Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure.