Age: 38 Company: Clark Neubert LLP Position: Co-founder and attorney “I went to law school at Berkley to practice Native American law,” Clark says. “I’m Ottawa from the Grand Traverse Band. I didn’t know a single lawyer growing up. Law school gave me the ability to articulately navigate through those halls for my people.” Clark started her own practice and worked with California Indian Legal Services for six years before teaming up with Nicole Howell Neubert to start Clark Neubert LLP. A longtime advocate for social justice, Clark had noticed the growing need for legal representation, particularly among minorities looking to join the cannabis industry. “The industry is not very reflective of the diversity here (in California),” she says. “People who have normally been criminalized by marijuana laws need to not be excluded from participation in this local economy.” Clark says the newly passed Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act looks to be a guiding light for her clients that have been paying city, state and federal taxes and want to move forward into the regulated industry. Clark now finds herself practicing Native American law again for tribes looking to establish cannabis programs. “I’ve come full circle,” she says.
Ariel Clark
Ariel Clark
In the evenings after studying for her degree in tribal law at the University of California, Berkley, Ariel Clark would review the fine print on contracts for friends entering the medical marijuana market.