Category Archives: Information

NABA-AZ Annual Luncheon

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PLEASE ATTEND NABA-AZ’S

ANNUAL LUNCHEON ON JUNE 26, 2009!

The topic of this year’s annual luncheon is:

NATIVE WOMENMAKING A DIFFERENCE

This year, we are honored to present a panel presentation of three distinguished Native American women leaders. The panelists will share their experiences, challenges, and motivation behind their paths to leadership.

Moderator:

Rebecca Tsosie Professor of Law, Willard H. Pedrick Distinguished Research Scholar Executive Director, Indian Legal Program and Affiliate Professor, American Indian Studies Program

Panelists:

Diane Enos, President of Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community
Diane Humetewa, United States Attorney District of Arizona
Mary Thomas, Former Governor of the Gila River Indian Community

Date: June 26, 2009
Time: Noon — 1:30 p.m.

Location: Arizona Biltmore, Grand Room located in Conference Center (State Bar Convention)

Cost: $15 NABA-AZ Member

$20 non-NABA-AZ Member

**LUNCH PROVIDED**

Please RSVP to jbraybro@fclaw.com by June 12th if you are planning on attending.

Indian Legal Research Session

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Complexities of Indian legal research detailed in seminar By Judy Nichols

A recent seminar, “Indian Legal Research: Unlocking the Secrets to Researching Indian Law,” drew nearly 60 people to the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law to explore the rich and complex world of Indian law.

Those attending represented nine different Indian nations, members of tribal courts, the Bureau of Land Management, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Arizona Governor’s Office, and many law firms.

The conference was conceived by Alison Ewing, library liaison for the Indian Legal Program at the College of Law, along with Beth DiFelice, assistant director and head of public services for the Ross-Blakley Law Library, and Tamara Herrera, clinical professor of law. It was encouraged by Rebecca Tsosie, director of the Indian Legal Program and Victoria Trotta, associate dean for Information Technology and the Ross-Blakley Law Library and supported by the staff of the Indian Legal Program.
Tsosie said the seminar was the first of its kind she had seen anywhere. And it is particularly timely as questions about Indian law may soon be on the state bar exam.

“Indian law is notoriously difficult to research because it involves federal and tribal court opinions, not to mention some state court opinions, as well as a great deal of federal legislation and treaties,” Tsosie said.

“This requires that you know where to look for the exact language as it was enacted by Congress, as well as knowing how to do a legislative history to see what Congress likely intended if there are interpretive issues.”

In addition, she said, researchers need to understand federal regulatory rules, that tribal court opinions may or may not be published, or they may be published in different venues and be indexed differently, and that the interdisciplinary nature of Indian law may require looking in non-legal sources.

The idea for the seminar was inspired by an e-mail from ASU President Michael Crow and College of Law Dean Paul Schiff Berman challenging staff members to think entrepreneurially and come up with creative ideas to offset budget cuts.

Ewing said she saw a real need for the program because the Indian Legal Program often gets request for research but they don’t have the resources to fulfill those requests. The seminar raised more than $5,500 for scholarships for the Indian Legal Program.

The seminar also was an outgrowth of the Indian Law Portal set up by Ewing, which serves as a resource for ASU law students, the legal community and Indian Country.

“We wanted to pull everything together in one spot,” Ewing said. “Indian law is a very interdisciplinary subject that draws on many disciplines, including environmental, cultural property, genetics, business, economic development, and so on.

“Indian legal materials also exist in a variety of formats, including maps, government documents, case law, oral histories, microforms, print and electronic.

“And the time frame is unusual. In other areas of the law, the most recent thing is the most important. But in Indian legal research, you often start with the oldest documents, like treaties from the 1700s, and work forward.”

Ewing said the seminar team’s skills complemented each other. Ewing has a strong background in research, having worked for many years as a legal researcher for Brown & Bain focusing mainly on Indian issues, including the Navajo-Hopi land dispute, the longest running lawsuit in U.S. history; Herrera has been a practitioner concentrating on water and Indian law; and DiFelice is a consummate teacher who has taught advanced legal research and Indian legal research at the College of Law.

Unlike other legal disciplines, many of the primary Indian resources are not available in standard resources, Ewing said. The portal includes a chart, “Arizona Tribal Law Resources,” that lists each of the federally recognized tribes in Arizona and where their legal information can be found, for example, if their tribal code, constitution, or tribal court opinions are online or owned by ASU. If the resources are online, the Indian law portal links to them.

Faraz Khan, principal systems developer for the College of Law’s Information Technology Department, created the technical framework for the portal, and Ewing said many of the College of Law librarians helped identify content.

ILP Students co-author "Arizona Attorney" article

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ILP students co-author ‘Arizona Attorney’ article

Indian law should be added to the Arizona State Bar Examination for practical and professional reasons, according to an article written by two students in the College of Law’s Indian Legal Program and published in the May issue of Arizona Attorney.

“State and tribal interactions are increasing at an exponential rate,” wrote authors Brian Lewis (Choctaw) and Raymond Campbell (Gila River Pima), third-year students at the College of Law who are working in its Indian Legal Clinic. “In Arizona today, attorneys need to have at least a modicum of Indian law knowledge to serve their clients competently. And learning at least some Indian law will ensure that Arizona’s attorneys meet the requirements of the Arizona Rules of Professional Conduct.”

Many Indian law issues may arise in Arizona, from the adoption of Indian children and probate of real property on tribal lands to auto accidents on reservations that may involve complex jurisdictional dilemmas, Lewis and Campbell wrote in the article, “Indian law: A needed addition to the Arizona Bar Exam.”

The magazine invited the students to write the article, because a proposed Arizona Supreme Court rule change would include Indian law as a topic to be tested on the Bar exam. The comment period on the proposal ends May 20.

In 2003, New Mexico became the first state to include Indian law on its Bar exam, followed by Washington state in 2004, and other states are working to add it, Lewis and Campbell wrote. Arizona, the state with the largest percentage of Indian lands in the country, should not fall behind, they wrote.

To read the full article, click here.

Taxation on Indian Reservations

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TAX LAW SECTION
LUNCHEON EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM

“TAXATION ON INDIAN RESERVATIONS”

SPEAKER: THE HONORABLE PATRICK IRVINE, Arizona Court of Appeals, Div. One

Judge Irvine has been a judge of the Arizona Court of Appeals since 2002. He received his B.S. and J.D. from ASU, and an LL.M in Taxation from the University of San Diego. From 1989 to 2002, he served in the Arizona Attorney General’s Office in various capacities. During his tenure at the AG’s Office he chaired the Open Meeting Law Enforcement Team, Opinion Review Committee, Indian Law Working Group and Election Law Committee. He previously worked as an Assistant General Counsel to the Gila River Indian Community, a tax manager for an international accounting firm, and in private practice.

DATE: TUESDAY, APRIL 28, 2009

TIME: 11:45 — Registration/Lunch
NOON — Program

COST: $25.00 (Section Members) – $30.00 (Non-Members) — Lunch Provided

PLACE: STATE BAR OFFICES
4201 N. 24th Street, Phoenix, AZ
(East side of 24th Street, a half block north of Indian School
Front of building faces east — plenty of parking)

May Qualify for MCLE Credit

REGISTRATION/RSVP FORM — Please Respond by Friday, April 24, 2009.

____ I will attend the Tax Law Section Educational Luncheon on TUESDAY, April 28.

___ I am bringing _____guest(s). Name(s) _________________________________

My payment in the amount of $_____________

______is enclosed ______will be paid at the door.

(Tax Section Members ~ $25.00 each; Non-Members ~ $30.00 each)

You can RSVP by:

Mail: State Bar of Arizona, PO Box 53099, Phoenix, AZ 85072-3099
Fax: 602.416-7504
E-mail: nancy.nichols@staff.azbar.org

NAME_____________________________________BAR NUMBER _______________

PAYMENT METHOD:
_____ Check made payable to the State Bar of Arizona

_____ VISA ______MasterCard ______American Express ______Discover Card

I hereby authorize the State Bar of Arizona to charge the above amount to the following credit card.

CARD # ____________________________________EXP.DATE ________________

CVV2# (3-4 digit code on back front of card)________________

NAME ON CARD (if different from above)_____________________________________

CARD BILLING ADDRESS ___________________________________________________

CITY_____________________________________STATE___________ZIP_____________

SIGNATURE

_______________________________________________________________
For accounting only: Tax Section T617-4520-002

To facilitate participation in programs and events the State Bar of Arizona provides reasonable accommodation in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. If you require accommodation, please indicate this on your RSVP form. Whenever possible accommodation requests should be made as far in advance of the program as possible.

Nancy L. Nichols
Administrator, Committees & Sections
State Bar of Arizona
4201 N. 24th St., Suite 200
Phoenix, AZ 85016-6288
Direct Phone: 602-340-7304
Direct Fax: 602-416-7504
nancy.nichols@staff.azbar.org

EchoHawk to lead the BIA

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April 11, 2009

Brigham Young U. Law Professor Will Head Bureau of Indian Affairs

President Obama has chosen a Brigham Young University law professor, Larry EchoHawk, to be the Department of the Interior’s assistant secretary for Indian affairs. He will oversee the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which provides services for 1.7 million American Indians and manages 66 million acres of tribal land.

Mr. EchoHawk, a member of the Pawnee tribe and a Democrat, teaches criminal law and federal Indian law at the university. According to The Salt Lake Tribune, he is a Mormon and a Brigham Young alumnus who was the first American Indian elected to a statewide office when he became Idaho’s attorney general, in 1990. In 1994 he ran for governor of Idaho but lost. He has taught at Brigham Young since. –Lawrence Biemiller

ASU Law Journal publishes most Indian Law articles

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From Professor Fletcher’s Blog – Turtletalk. Arizona State University Law Review has best Indian Law publishing record.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Wanna know who publishes Federal Indian Law papers, and who doesn’t? Bet you probably already knew….

http://turtletalk.wordpress.com/2009/03/09/federal-indian-law-in-general-law-reviews/

Matthew

Matthew L.M. FletcherAssociate Professor, MSU College of LawDirector, MSU Indigenous Law Centerssrn: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=383355bepress: http://works.bepress.com/matthew_fletcher/blog: http://turtletalk.wordpress.com/NDNLAWPROF hosted by the University of Arizona’s IPLP Program since 2009

NABA-AZ CLE

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Please RSVP to Jenny Braybrooke at Fennemore Craig.

NATIVE AMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION OF ARIZONA EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM

TOPIC: An Insider’s View: “California v. Cabazon Band of Mission Indians” – The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988 was adopted by Congress in direct response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1987 decision in California v. Cabazon Band of Mission Indians. In Cabazon, the Court held that California could not prohibit or regulate tribal gaming activities within that State. Glenn Feldman, a shareholder at Mariscal Weeks, represented the Cabazon Band in that case. His presentation will include both an interesting perspective on the judicial history of Indian gaming as well as taped segments of the Supreme Court argument in the Cabazon case.

SPEAKER: Glenn Feldman, Mariscal Weeks
DATE / TIME: FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2009 AT 12:00 P.M.,
REGISTRATION AT 11:30 A.M. (Lunch will be provided)
LOCATION: FENNEMORE CRAIG, 3003 North Central Avenue, Suite 2600, Phoenix
COST: $10.00 NABA-AZ Members $15.00 Non-NABA-AZ Members

Please make checks payable to NABA-AZ and mail to Fennemore Craig, 3003 N. Central Avenue, #2600, Phoenix, AZ 85012 Attn: Jenny Braybrooke

** MAY QUALIFY FOR UP TO 1 HR CLE CREDIT**

RSVP by MONDAY, February 16, 2009.
You can RSVP by : Mail: Fennemore Craig, Attn: Jenny Braybrooke, 3003 N. Central Avenue, Suite 2600, Phoenix, AZ 85012 Phone: 602-916-5247 Fax: 602-916-5691 E-mail: jbraybro@fclaw.com

REGISTRATION / RSVP:__________I will attend the NABA-AZ CLE Program (enclosed is my check for $10 NABA-AZ Member or $15 Non-NABA-AZ Member)NAME____________________________________

Indian Law Section Mixer

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The Indian Law Section Cordially Invites You To
An Attorney Student Mixer

WHO: Judges, Attorneys, Advocates who represent Tribes or work in the field of Indian or Indigenous Law, professors, and law and LLM students.

WHAT: Free food and beverages with opportunities to network.

WHEN: Thursday, January 22 beginning at 5:00 p.m.

WHERE: The Law Offices of Quigley & Whitehill PLC
2730 E. Broadway, Suite 160
Tucson, AZ 85716

RSVP your attendance to:
April Olson at: april.olson@gric.nsn.us; or
Amy Courson at: ACourson@Stricklandlaw.net, or
520.795.8727

You could find a job opportunity, meet your new associate, catch up on legal happenings, or pick up writing competition information that wins you a scholarship! Don’t miss the fun.

Please RSVP by Tuesday, January 20.