In honor of Indigenous Peoples Day, Nisqually Tribal Council Member Willie Frank III and I will be speaking at Seattle U. at noon on Monday on the Ongoing Invisibility of Native and Tribal Rights. More information here.
Seattle University School of Law
Friday Job Announcements
Job vacancies are posted on Friday. Some announcements might still appear throughout the week. If you would like your Indian law job posted on Turtle Talk, please email indigenous@law.msu.edu.
Tohono O’odham Nation
Part Time Attorneys, Advocate Program, Sellz, AZ. Provide legal aid and criminal defense to tribal members.
Anishinabe Legal Services
Staff Attorney, Cass Lake, MN. Providing free legal assistance and court representation to low-income individuals living on or near the Leech Lake, White Earth and Red Lake Indian Reservations in northern Minnesota. Applications are preferred by April 10th but will be accepted until the position is filled.
Seattle University Center for Indian Law & Policy
Indian Wills Paid Summer Internship, Seattle University School of Law, WA. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis beginning Jan 1, 2017 and will continue until all positions are filled.
Little River Band of Ottawa Indians
Paid Summer Legal Intern, Manistee, MI. Will assist the Unified Legal Department in its role as in-house legal counsel to the Little River Band of Ottawa Indians. Applications must be received by April 30, 2017, 5:00 p.m. EST. Applications will be reviewed on a revolving basis until the position(s) is filled.
Bear River Band of Rohnerville Rancheria
Chief of Police, Loleta, CA. Responsible for leading the entire Public Safety Department and carries all duties and functions of the department. Apply here.
Rincon Band of Luiseño Indians
Paid Summer Law Interns, Valley Center, CA. Will assist the Attorney General to research and draft Tribal ordinances, policies and resolutions and prepare legal memoranda on a wide-variety of legal matters handled by the office. Applications are due by close of business on May 1, 2017.
Seattle Law Looks for Asst. Director of Alaska Program in Anchorage
Link to job announcement here.
Fall 2015 Publication of Seattle University’s American Indian Law Journal
Contents
Seattle U. Indian Estate Planning Summer Internship
PAID SUMMER INDIAN ESTATE PLANNING INTERNSHIP!
Application Deadline: April 15, 2013
Job Description: The summer Indian Estate Planning Project provides exceptional direct client experiences that few law student summer internships offer. In our ninth year, the Project places specially trained second and third year law students from ABA accredited schools on Indian reservations throughout Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Wisconsin and Montana. This internship embodies important services for Indian trust land owners that are not provided by any other organization in the country outside of a few legal service offices and a few specially trained private practitioners. The Project provides these services at no cost to clients and without regard to clients’ income.
Duties: Interns attend a one week, fully paid, training session beginning on May 20th at Seattle University School of Law on the history of federal laws and policies creating trust lands and fractionation, trust and non-trust estate planning under federal, state and tribal laws, the federal probate process, the American Indian Probate Reform Act, professional responsibility, will drafting and working within reservation communities. Upon completing the training, interns will serve one assigned tribal community for 10 weeks, providing information on Indian estate planning, interviewing clients, drafting and executing wills, living wills, and related documents. You must have your own vehicle, laptop, and in some instances, relocation for the summer is required.
Qualifications: Students must be in their second or third years of law school and have taken a Wills and Trusts class. A background in Indian Law is a plus but is not required.
Employer Information: The Institute for Indian Estate Planning and Probate is located at Seattle University School of Law and is a project of the Center for Indian Law & Policy.
Application Materials: Please submit: (i) cover letter, (ii) resume, (iii) unofficial transcript, (iv) 3 references to Erica Wolf at wolfer@seattleu.edu.
Salary: Approximately $5500 gross + travel/relocation expenses.
Seattle U Legal Fellowship Opportunity in Alaska
Exciting Fellowship Opportunity in Alaska!
The Center for Indian Law & Policy at Seattle University School of Law and the Bristol Bay Native Association (BBNA) has developed a project that will provide estate planning services to BBNA members. The members reside in 36 villages in a remote area around Bristol Bay, Alaska. We are seeking a full-time Fellow to reside in Dillingham, Alaska, where BBNA is headquartered, for 9 months, from September 2012 through May 2013. The Fellow will travel to villages with BBNA staff to meet with clients and provide estate planning services. The Fellow will be supervised by Center personnel and will have on-site contact with an Alaska Legal Services attorney. This is a unique opportunity for a recent law school graduate to gain hands-on legal experience in a unique location! BBNA members have special estate planning needs, and the Fellow will undergo training on those special needs, as well as estate planning for native Alaskans. While this is not a salaried position, travel and living expenses will be paid.
We will begin accepting applications for this Fellowship on April 1, 2012, with the deadline for applications on July 31, 2012.
If you are interested, please submit: (i) cover letter, (ii) resume, (iii) unofficial transcript, (iv) three references to Erica Wolf, Managing Attorney at wolfer@seattleu.edu.
Institute for Indian Estate Planning and Probate: Indian Estate Planning Availability
INDIAN WILLS FOR TRIBAL MEMBERS!!
Since 2005, the Institute for Indian Estate Planning and Probate at Seattle University School of Law has provided will drafting and estate planning services through its Summer Intern Program, which places specially trained law students on reservations, nationwide, to do full-time estate planning work for ten weeks during the summer.
As Douglas Nash, Director of the Institute, has stated, “estate planning is important in many respects including allowing Indian people the opportunity to make informed decisions about their property, keeping land in trust status and Indian ownership and avoiding further fractionation.” In fact, 87% of the wills done under Institute projects have reduced or avoided further fractionation of trust interests!
All interns work under the direct supervision of a licensed attorney and are specially trained to counsel tribal members on estate planning options they have that reduce or avoid fractionation – and even probate. Wills are drafted to be valid under tribal, federal and state laws as needed.
The program is paid for by the tribes served and, in turn, provides services at no cost to individual tribal members!
The Institute has other estate planning programs available to tribes that can be put in place separately or in conjunction with the summer program to provide year around services to tribal members.
For more information, contact Doug Nash at dnash@seattleu.edu, (206) 398-4276, or
Erica Wolf at wolfer@seattleu.edu, (206) 398-4277, or go to www.indianwills.org
Seattle U. Conference Materials — “Perspectives on Tribal Land Acquisitions in 2010: A Call to Action”
Eric Eberhard has generously provided the entire conference transcript and materials packet for the Seattle University Center for Indian Law and Policy conference, “Perspectives on Tribal Land Acquisitions in 2010: A Call to Action.”
These materials easily are the finest set of documents relating to the last 30 years of the law and politics of Interior trust acquisitions.
It’s an 862-page document, about 100 MB, but worth the time to download [if you want the CD, please contact Eric or others in the program]
Turtle Talk 