Loyola law names 1st woman and Black person as dean

Longtime Loyola Law School professor, health care law leader and interim dean Brietta Clark has become the school's 19th dean in historic fashion.

She is the first woman and first Black person to hold the position in the law school's 103-year history, a news release stated. The law school was founded in 1920 as St. Vincent's School of Law.

"It's very humbling. I definitely feel a strong sense of responsibility to make sure that I'm being a good role model for other people to be able to see this as a path," Clark said in a phone interview Wednesday.

She succeeded Michael Waterstone, who in July became dean of UCLA School of Law. Clark, who said Waterstone's belief in her encouraged her to pursue the position, had been serving as interim dean since his departure in mid-July.

"Clark is a respected and prominent legal educator who exemplifies the university's mission," Loyola Marymount University Vice President and Provost Thomas Poon said in a statement. Her extensive academic leadership and teaching experience, coupled with her proven ability to build meaningful relationships ... make her the ideal candidate to lead the law school."

After Clark graduated from USC Gould School of Law in 1999, she practiced in Los Angeles at Sidley Austin LLP, specializing in health care transactions and regulatory compliance.

She joined Loyola Law School in 2001 where she mainly taught courses on health care law, she said. Other leadership roles she took at the school, in addition to interim dean, included: associate dean for faculty from 2015 to 2020, co-chair of the school's strategic planning committee and chair of its tenure review committee, the school's news release stated.

The news release stated she has written and provided testimony about the role that the law plays in shaping health care and quality and that she assisted legal organizations on the topic.

She is also one of five authors of the ninth edition of an American health law casebook titled, "Health Law: Cases, Materials, and Problems."

"I chose LMU Loyola Law School as my professional home because of its mission. Its mission is to advance academic excellence, instill a deep concern for social justice and increase access to legal education," Clark said. "And so as dean, I feel honored to be in a position to do even more to strengthen our impact, raise our visibility and further that mission."