Louise C. West is a pioneering entertainment attorney and music executive renowned for her transformative leadership and strategic dealmaking. From the beginning, she has nurtured the careers of a diverse range of professionals including music industry executives, entertainment attorneys, recording artists, producer, songwriters, and new media innovators.

Louise began her legal career as a copyright examiner at the U.S. Copyright Office and the Department of Commerce in Washington, D.C.  Later, she joined the law firm Patterson, Michaels, Dinkins and Jones as an associate.   Louise’s love for the arts led her to interact with jazz musicians (e.g., Donald Byrd), and after handling their contracts, eventually led to the establishment of West Entertainment Services – a boutique music and new media law firm in New York City.  The firm's clients have included Missy Elliott (the first black female rapper to have a record label deal with a major label), multiplatinum producer Timbaland, Ginuwine, Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, Glenn Jones, Al B. Sure, Carl Thomas, Roc-A-Fella Records, Damon Dash, Hip Hop Since 1978 (Kanye West’s production company), Trey Songz, Stephen "Static" Garrett, Noah "40" Shebib, Anthony Hamilton, Gary Taylor, DJ Clark Kent, Mark Green and All HipHop.com, among others.  Her career is marked by her adeptness in negotiating high-stake deals.

Louise led groundbreaking initiatives that reshaped industry practices. Notably, Louise saw the need for an organization where collective experiences and knowledge could be shared for professional development, networking, and the advancement of people of color, so she and a group of top industry attorneys formed the Black Entertainment & Sports Lawyers Association (“BESLA”) in 1980.  Additionally, she spearheaded efforts to ensure that black music executives received pay parity with their white counterparts—a move that redefined compensation standards and set a new benchmark for fairness. The list of executives and attorneys who started their career working for Louise is long. Louise has been honored by BESLA twice:  in 1998 she was inducted into the BESLA Hall of Fame, and in 2017, she received the BESLA ICON Award.

Louise earned her Bachelor’s Degree from Fisk University and her Juris Doctorate from American University Law School.  She has been a lecturer for the Practicing Law Institute and taught "Legal Protection of Music, Art and Literature" at Howard University.   In addition to being a co-founder of BESLA, she currently serves on BESLA’s Advisory Board.  Louise is also a trustee of The R & B Foundation.