Turtle Talk

Past recipients of the Baca Lifetime Achievement Award include Lawrence Baca, Professor Phil Frickey, John Echohawk, Professor David Getches, Alan Taradash, Professor Carole E. Goldberg, Tom Fredericks, Walter Echo-Hawk, Arlinda Locklear, Charles Wilkinson and Professor Bill Rice.

The Award will be presented at the FBA Indian Law Conference in Scottsdale, AZ in April 2017. The recipient must be present to receive the award.

The deadline for nominations is Friday, February 10, 2017.

Please submit nominations to the Chairman of the Nominations and Awards Committee, Gabe Galanda, at gabe@galandabroadman.com with a cc to jalbertson@fba.org.

Nominations should specifically address how the nominee meets the criteria for the award outlined below.

Qualifications for Lawrence R. Baca Lifetime Achievement Award:

Nominee must have worked in the field of Indian law for at least twenty years as a practitioner, judge, legislator, leader, scholar or educator;
Be of good standing and held in high esteem in his or her professional arena;
And have made significant contributions to the field of Indian law through litigation, development of legislation, scholarship or the development of Indian law students or through tribal leadership.

The nomination submission must include:

A nominating letter that specifically addresses in narrative form how the nominee meets each of the three Award criteria.
A current resume or vitae. Reference to a website where the information can be found is not accepted as a substitute for the written narrative or resume.

The nomination submission may also include:

1-3 letters of support for the nomination.
Up to 3 articles about the nominee. Please do not include articles written by the nominee.

Order from North Dakota Supreme Court Regarding Out of State Lawyers

January 18, 2017January 18, 2017Kate Fort1 Comment

Here. This order is issued after receiving more than 16,000 comments on the proposed temporary rule, which was in response to the large number of arrests during the DAPL protests late last year (and which are ongoing–law enforcement clashed with water protectors over the MLK weekend). The full order is worth reading, but here are the requirements:

In criminal cases pending in the South Central Judicial District arising from arrests made during the protests of the Dakota Access Pipeline between August 1, 2016 and until further order of this Court, a lawyer authorized to practice law in another state, and not disbarred, suspended or otherwise restricted from practice in any jurisdiction, may provide legal services in North Dakota on a temporary basis. The legal services must be provided on a pro bono basis, without payment or the expectation of payment of a fee. This Order does not prohibit a lawyer providing legal services under authority of this Order from being reimbursed from nongovernmental funds for actual expenses incurred while rendering services under this Order. The following requirements, processes and procedures shall apply:

1) The lawyer seeking pro hac vice admission must complete a form available through the Clerk of the Supreme Court and file it with the North Dakota State Board of Law Examiners;

2) The lawyer seeking pro hac vice admission must file the above referenced form with a certificate from his or her resident state licensing authority certifying the lawyer is admitted, currently licensed, eligible to practice and in good standing;

3) The lawyer seeking pro hac vice admission must associate with a licensed North Dakota lawyer as required under N.D. Admission Prac. R. 3. We excuse the requirement that the North Dakota associate lawyer appear in-person and remain in court for all proceedings unless the district judge presiding in the case enters an order, based on a case-specific reason, requiring the presence of the North Dakota associate lawyer;

4) The pro hac vice filing fee is waived;

5) Upon receipt of the completed form and required materials, the North Dakota State Board of Law Examiners will provide the lawyer seeking pro hac vice admission an identification number that must be included on all pleadings filed with any court regarding these matters;

6) Each business day the Clerk of the Supreme Court shall provide the Court Administrator for the South Central Judicial District with a listing of all lawyers who have been granted pro hac vice admission as provided in this Order;

7) Lawyers admitted pro hac vice must access the North Dakota Odyssey electronic case management system through the associate lawyer unless the associate lawyer does not subscribe to North Dakota’s Odyssey case management system. If the associate lawyer does not subscribe to Odyssey case management system, the lawyer admitted pro hac vice may email filings to the clerk of court;

8) The lawyer admitted pro hac vice under this Order is not by virtue of that admission limited in the number of appearances or representations he or she can make regarding these matters;

9) The lawyer admitted pro hac vice under this Order must remain licensed and in good standing in the lawyer’s state of licensure, and must verify in writing to the North Dakota State Board of Law Examiners no later than January 5, 2018, their licensure status and provide a listing of pending cases for which they are acting under this Order; and

10) Any allegations of misconduct by a lawyer admitted pro hac vice under this Order that is reported to the Disciplinary Board of North Dakota will be provided to the lawyer’s state of licensure, and may be grounds for revocation of pro hac vice admission under this Order.

Lee v. Tam Oral Argument Transcript

January 18, 2017Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here.

Report: Improving Tribal Consultation and Tribal Involvement in Federal Infrastructure Decisions – January 2017

January 18, 2017October 27, 2017Matthew L.M. Fletcher4 Comments

Here. [PDF for when the Trump Administration deletes this report.] Update 10/27/17 — aaaaand it’s gone.

An excerpt:

This Report serves several functions. First, it provides information about the existing Federal statutory, regulatory, and policy framework governing both Tribal consultation and Federal decision-making on infrastructure and related projects. Second, it serves as a record of Tribal input on this topic, summarizing both written and oral comments received during the consultations, listening session, and written comment period. Third, in order to improve both consultation and infrastructure permitting processes, this Report recommends that agencies undertake a thorough review of their consultation policies and practices, and that consultation policies be provided to the WHCNAA and made publicly available (if they are not already). The Report provides an initial Federal response to Tribal comments and recommendations along with a set of principles that should inform Tribal consultation. Finally, the Report highlights best practices gleaned from what Tribes identified as successful Tribal consultations and makes recommendations for further research, administrative, regulatory, or legislative action.

Massive NYTs Magazine Article on Nooksack Disenrollments

January 18, 2017Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is “Who Decides Who Counts as Native American? Four years ago, the Nooksack in Washington State announced that they were expelling hundreds of members, setting off a bitter debate over tribal identity.”

Writing Wills for Tribal Clients Conference and Book Launch @ U of A (1/30/2017)

January 18, 2017January 18, 2017Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here (PDF):

conference-book-launch-save-the-date

On Monday, January 30, 2017, Arizona Law will host a conference and book launch, featuring presentations by IPLP graduates Marren Sanders and Mary Guss, followed by a reception and book signing, with free copies available of the new publication “AIPRA — Writing Wills for Tribal Clients.”