Tia Ebarb Matt is a Clinical Professor of Law and Director of Experiential Learning at Oklahoma City University School of Law, where she oversees the law school’s clinical programs, externships, and practice-based courses. The law school’s clinics include programs serving clients in American Indian estate planning, immigration, housing, criminal, and municipal matters. Professor Ebarb Matt supervises the Collaborative Clinic, which provides transactional and intellectual property legal services to entrepreneurs and small businesses.
Before entering academia, Professor Ebarb Matt spent 15 years in private practice representing individuals, entrepreneurs, and small businesses. That experience continues to shape her teaching, which emphasizes practical skills, professional judgment, and client-centered advocacy.
She teaches skills-based courses focused on client-centered lawyering, professional identity, and community-informed approaches to legal problem solving. She also developed and teaches Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property, a course that examines how Tribal Nations navigate federal intellectual property law and protect cultural knowledge within and beyond existing legal frameworks.
Through her teaching and leadership, Professor Ebarb Matt works in partnership with courts, legal aid organizations, and community groups to expand access to justice and to equip future lawyers to serve clients effectively, ethically, and with an understanding of the communities in which legal issues arise.