Dean's Leadership Team
Mark Niles
Dean and Professor of Law
B.A., Wesleyan University, 1988; J.D., Stanford Law School, 1991
Mark Niles joined Seattle University School of Law as Dean and Professor of Law on July 1, 2010. He was previously associate dean for academic affairs and professor at American University, Washington College of Law. He has taught and specializes in civil procedure, administrative law, constitutional law, governmental liability, and law and literature. As associate dean for academic affairs, he spearheaded significant developments in the first-year curriculum and in academic skills instruction.
After graduating from Stanford Law School, Dean Niles served as a clerk for the Honorable Francis Murnaghan, Jr., of the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, as an associate at the D.C. firm of Hogan and Hartson, and as a staff attorney in the civil appellate division of the U.S. Department of Justice, where he argued cases in several federal circuit courts. He has served as the Reporter for the Maryland Civil Pattern Jury Instructions Committee of the Maryland State Bar Association.
Dean Niles has published numerous articles and essays on subjects including the Ninth Amendment, federal tort liability, airline security regulation, the first decade of the tenure of Justice Clarence Thomas, and the depiction of law and justice in American popular culture.
Paul Holland
Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Associate Professor of Law
B.A., cum laude, Harvard University, 1988; J.D., magna cum laude, New York University, 1991; L.L.M., Georgetown University, 1996
After joining the faculty in 2004 to teach in the Youth Advocacy Clinic, Professor Holland was named Director of the Ronald A. Peterson Law Clinic in 2006. As Director, he oversaw the expansion of the Clinic's offerings and its increased integration with the Legal Writing Program and other components of the Law School's curriculum. He was appointed Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in 2009.
Professor Holland continues to teach in the Youth Advocacy Clinic. He is also active in the field of juvenile justice as a scholar and policymaker. His article, Schooling Miranda: Policing Interrogation in the Twenty-First Century Schoolhouse appeared in the 2006 edition of the Loyola Law Review. Governor Christine Gregoire appointed him to the Governor's Juvenile Justice Advisory Committee in 2005 and named him Chair in 2008.
Before joining the Seattle University faculty, Professor Holland taught in clinics representing youth at Georgetown University Law Center (1994-99), Loyola University (Chicago) School of Law (1999-2001) and University of Michigan Law School (2001-04).
Donna Deming
Associate Dean for Student Affairs
B.A. Yale University, 1976. J.D., University of Pennsylvania Law School, 1979. Admitted to practice in Pennsylvania and the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania
Dean Deming oversees Admissions, Student Financial Services and Student Affairs and is responsible for enforcing school policies and the Student Conduct Code. Dean Deming also helps oversees orientation, examinations and graduation. Prior to joining the law school’s administrative staff, she was assistant dean for admission and student affairs at Temple University. A former member of the board of trustees of the Law School Admissions Council, she has also chaired the Association of American Law Schools Section on Pre-legal Education and Admission to Law School, and serves on the executive committee for the Administration of Law Schools Section. Dean Deming holds responsibility for admissions, financial aid, and student affairs. She joined the law school in 1991.
Richard Bird
Associate Dean for Finance and Administration
B.A., Pacific Lutheran University, 1982; M.B.A., Pacific Lutheran University, 1984
Dean Bird oversees the Business Office, Event Administration, Faculty Administrative Assistants, Technology Helpdesk and Network Services, and is responsible for the School of Law's Finances, Sullivan Hall, and is the staff Human Resource liaison. Prior to joining the School of Law he was the Director of Auxiliary Services and Associate Director for Residential Life at Seattle University. While at Pacific Lutheran University he was a Residence Hall Director and Conference Coordinator. Dean Bird has served as an active member on University and ABA committees.
Kristin Cheney
Associate Dean for Library and Educational Technology
B.S., summa cum laude, Northern Michigan University, 1973; J.D., Seattle University School of Law, 1984; M.L.S., University of Washington 1987. Admitted to practice in Washington state.
After serving as a prosecuting attorney in Pierce and Kitsap counties, Dean Cheney returned to academia as a reference librarian/senior reference librarian at Boston University School of Law from 1987-92, where she also was an adjunct professor in legal writing from 1988-92. Subsequently she became the assistant director for public and educational services at the University of Texas School of Law from 1992-94. She joined the Seattle University School of Law as associate library director in 1994. Dean Cheney was appointed executive law librarian in 2001, law library director in 2005, and Associate Dean for Library & Educational Technology in 2007. She has taught various upper-level research courses at the law school since 1995.
Dean Cheney received the law school's 2009 Champion for Social Justice Award for her many years of service with the Seniors with Pets Assistance Program, a local nonprofit. She additionally received the Dean's Medal in 2009.
Lisa Barton
Associate Dean for Advancement
B.A., University of Minnesota, 1992; J.D., William Mitchell College of Law, 1997
Associate Dean Barton joined the law school in February 2011, after serving as Director of Development at William Mitchell College of Law. She oversees the development and alumni relations offices. Prior to returning to her alma mater to work, she worked at the University of Utah as the Executive Director of Principal Gifts and at The George Washington University Law School in several different positions, including Director of Alumni Relations and the Associate Director of Development. Lisa began her legal career as a law clerk for the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia. She later practiced law at a large firm and at a clinic serving low-income senior citizens, both in Washington, D.C.
Carol T. Cochran
Assistant Dean for Admission
B.A., Pacific Lutheran University, 1991; M.A., Seattle University, 2004
Assistant Dean Cochran has worked in higher education since 1991, when she became an admission counselor at her alma mater. In 1994, she joined the staff of Seattle University School of Law as the assistant director of admission. She became the director of admission in 1999 and was appointed assistant dean in 2005. She is the advisor to the Black Law Student Association. Ms. Cochran has served on numerous information panels at the Law School Admission Council Law School Forums and has presented at the LSAC Annual Meeting and Educational Conference. She previously served on the LSAC Minority Affairs Committee for 2001-03 and was a member of the 2003 LSAC Annual Meeting and Educational Conference Planning Work Group.
Kathleen Koch
Assistant Dean for Student Financial Services
B.A., University of Puget Sound, 1975; M.A., Seattle University, 1999
Assistant Dean Koch has been involved in the financial aid field for nearly 16 years and holds many leadership positions in the field. She serves on Congressman John Sarbanes’ Education for Public Service Advisory Committee and participated in negotiated rulemaking for the College Cost Reduction and Access Act Student Loans Committee with the Department of Education. She is president of the Washington Financial Aid Association, is a Washington State Bar Foundation Loan Repayment Assistance Advisory Board member and serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Student Financial Aid for the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators. She sits on the Presidents’ Committee and the Graduate/Professional Committee for the Western Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators and is a member of the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators and the Washington State Association of Student Employment Administrators.
Shawn Lipton
Assistant Dean for Center for Professional Development
Assistant Dean Lipton is a graduate of the University of Connecticut School of Law. Prior to attending law school, he worked and studied in Taiwan and traveled extensively throughout North and South East Asia. Before joining CPD, he was the director of Continuing Legal Education for the law school and prior to that worked as a business development manager in the dotcom world. Shawn is a certified master coach. He speaks Mandarin Chinese fluently and is proficient in Spanish.
John B. Kirkwood
Associate Dean for Strategic Planning and Mission and Associate Professor of Law
A.B., magna cum laude, Yale University, 1970; M.P.P., cum laude, Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government, 1974; J.D., cum laude, Harvard Law School, 1974, Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review projects editor
John B. Kirkwood is an Associate Professor at Seattle University School of Law, an Editor of Research in Law and Economics, and a Senior Fellow of the American Antitrust Institute. He has edited two books and written numerous articles, including an article on buyer power that was quoted by the Supreme Court and an article on the goals of the antitrust laws, with Robert Lande, that was published by the Notre Dame Law Review. He has spoken frequently at conferences on antitrust law and testified at the hearings on predatory pricing held by the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission. After graduating magna cum laude and with Honors of Exceptional Distinction in Economics from Yale, he received a masters degree in public policy from the Kennedy School and a law degree from Harvard, where he was an editor of the Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review. Before joining the faculty at Seattle University, he directed two antitrust policy offices and the premerger notification program at the Federal Trade Commission in Washington, D.C.; managed antitrust cases and investigations at the FTC's Seattle office; and taught antitrust at both the University of Washington and Seattle University. He received the Outstanding Faculty Award in 2006 and the Dean's Medal in 2007.
Natasha Martin
Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development
B.S., cum laude, Xavier University of Louisiana; J.D., University of Notre Dame
Associate Dean Natasha Martin is a research fellow of the law school's Fred T. Korematsu Center for Law and Equality and serves on its Steering Committee. An associate professor, she teaches in the areas of employment discrimination and professional responsibility. Her interdisciplinary research focuses on employment discrimination law, critical race theory and organizational behavior. The main thrust of her academic work centers on contemporary workplace realities and the impact of discrimination law on the inclusion of women, people of color and other marginalized groups. A frequent presenter at national conferences, Professor Martin is dedicated to gender and racial equity, and is serving a second appointment to the Washington State Gender and Justice Commission. Before joining the legal academy, Professor Martin spent several years in private law firm practice focusing on employment discrimination litigation, and served as in-house employment legal counsel to a financial services company in Atlanta, Georgia.
