Our Practice

The firm has been fortunate to have longstanding relationships with many tribes. A number of our tribal clients have been clients since the firm was formed in 1976. The legal needs of these and our other tribal clients are broad and varied, and we are regularly called upon to provide representation across a wide spectrum of matters. Many of these practice areas - such as litigation, gaming, treaty rights, legislation and administrative agency work - we describe separately on this website. The remainder of our practice for tribes, which involves matters large and small, we typically refer to as our "general counsel" services. Our experience handling essentially all the legal needs of tribes, which we have established over a long period of time, is an important asset of the firm.

For example, we have worked closely with several tribes with regard to their efforts to revise their tribal constitutions. Our role in this regard includes analysis of legal issues, discussion and presentation of options, and drafting appropriate language - all to facilitate the tribal process that must ultimately decide the proper course for the tribe.

While it would be impossible to list all categories of general counsel work that the firm undertakes, we provide this list of examples of matters that we work on for tribes: 1) tribal election disputes, 2) tribal enrollment matters, 3) jurisdictional disputes between tribes and states or local governments, 4) negotiating leases and rights of way across trust lands, 5) development and implementation of tribal liquor laws, 6) legal support in connection with tribal economic development, 7) tribal environmental activities, 8) tribal education matters, 9) tribal housing development, and 10) Indian Child Welfare Act matters.  The firm handles many such matters, and we are committed to bringing our experience to bear for these matters, just as we do in the most complicated litigation.