Loretta P. Martinez, J.D., the inaugural senior vice president and general counsel, is an integral member of the university’s executive leadership team as the head legal officer, addressing essential issues that impact the community, and providing counsel on legal matters, governance, and related topics. She serves as the in-house legal advisor, engaging key leaders and units to assess and mitigate legal risk and to optimize LMU’s legal compliance in support of the university’s values, mission, and strategic goals. She assumed her responsibilities on April 1, 2024.
SVP Martinez joined Loyola Marymount University from University of New Mexico, where, as general counsel, she led an office encompassing five campuses and the UNM Health System. She advised the board of regents, university president, CEO for the UNM Health system, campus chancellors, and senior leadership, and she oversaw the public records office, privacy office, and some 100 cases in active litigation.
Prior to her tenure at New Mexico, SVP Martinez served as general counsel and vice chancellor for legal affairs at the City University of New York, where she led an in-house legal staff and collaborated with counterpart in-house counsels at several CUNY institutions. At Colorado College, SVP Martinez served as general counsel and board secretary for more than eight years. She has also worked in the private sector, specializing in public and private P-20 education law, and served as outside general counsel to elected officials, Colorado cities and towns, and other governmental and private entities on a broad range of public law topics.
SVP Martinez earned her Juris Doctorate at Harvard Law School and her Bachelor of Arts in political science from Yale University.