Justice Hecht served on the Iowa Supreme Court from 2006 until his retirement in 2018.
Raised near Lytton, Iowa, he received his bachelor's degree from Morningside College in 1974 and his J.D. degree from the University of South Dakota in 1977. He received his L.L.M. degree from the University of Virginia Law School in 2004.
Judge Hecht practiced law in Sioux City for twenty-two years before his appointment to the court of appeals in 1999.
Justice Hecht is a past president of the Iowa Trial Lawyers Association. He has served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Boys and Girls Home and Family Services, the Morningside College Alumni Association, the Woodbury County Judicial Magistrate Nominating Commission, and the Woodbury County Compensation Commission. Justice Hecht served as chairperson for the Iowa Supreme Court Task Force For Civil Justice Reform. Their final report was presented to the members of the Iowa Supreme Court on January 30, 2012.