36th Annual WSBA Indian Law CLE - May 16 and 17, 2024

Related Practice: American Indian Law

Join the Washington State Bar Association Indian Law Section's Annual CLE. This two-day CLE will cover some of the most important developments and pressing issues affecting tribes in Washington and beyond. 

To register, click here.  For the full PDF of the agenda, please click here. 

Agenda

Thursday, May 16 |  8:00am - 4:45pm

> Judicial Updates

This session will discuss facts and law of the most significant federal Indian law rulings of the past 12 months. Case summaries of these and all other recent rulings are found in the accompanying Judicial Update paper.

Thomas Schlosser - Morrisset, Schlosser, Jozwiak, & Somerville, Seattle 

> Growing the "Fourth Branch", Exercising Sovereign Authority through Tribal Administrative Procedures

This presentation will discuss the importance of establishing consistent tribal administrative procedures and how development of a Tribal Administrative Procedures Act can create efficiencies and opportunities for Tribes to exercise their sovereign authority. 

Andrew Fuller - Ogden Murphy Wallace, Seattle

> Pacific NW Tribes' climate change damages cases

Pacific Northwest Tribes face a number of urgent and dire threats to their infrastructure and resources as a result of climate change. Like states and sub-sovereigns around the country, some Tribes have brought tort-based damages cases against the fossil fuel companies whose decades of deception have driven fossil fuel demand and lead to climate change. The cases seek recovery for the substantial costs of adapting to the harms from sea level rise, drought, excessive heat, hydrologic cycle disruption, and other effects.   

Corrie J. Yackulic - Corrie Yackulic Law Firm PLLC, Yakima 

> The Major Questions Doctrine and Federal Indian Law

This presentation will provide an update on the Court's major questions jurisprudence and summarize its relevance for federal Indian law.

Professor Seth Davis - Professor of Law, University of California, Berkeley School of Law

> Wills and Estate Planning for Tribal Communities 

Wills and Estate Planning documents are a key component for the healing and consolidation of fractionated tribal trust lands. Learn about the special nuances involved in tribal trust land planning and get a crash course in how to prepare basic estate planning documents.

Kate Jones - Founding Attorney, Law Offices of Kate Jones, PLLC, Tacoma

> Legal and Practical Considerations for Tribal Sovereign Immunity Waivers

This presentation will address various legal and practical issues that arise concerning negotiating, effecting, and implementing tribal sovereign immunity waivers.  

Dan Rey-Bear - Rey-Bear McLaughlin, LLP, Spokane

> Sharing Common Goals: Concurrent Jurisdiction, Rule 82.5 and Joint Jurisdiction

Brief overview of overlapping jurisdiction and using Rule 82.5 and joint jurisdiction to resolve disputes. 

Hon. Meredith Drent - Tulalip Tribes of Washington, Tulalip

> Taxation in Indian Country - the Big Picture

This presentation will provide a general overview of tribal, state, and federal jurisdiction to impose taxes in Indian country, including, for example, sales, property, excise, and income taxes.

Cory Albright - Managing Attorney, Kanji & Katzen, P.L.L.C., Seattle 

> Fentanyl Response

Presentation Description Forthcoming

Hon. Nickolaus Lewis - Tribal Councilmember for Lummi Nation, Lummi 

Friday, May 17  |  8:00am - 12:00pm 

> Opioid MDL Litigation

This presentation will provide an update on the Opioid MDL litigation and its impact on tribal government.

Geoff Strommer - Attorney, Hobbs Straus Dean & Walker 

> The Klamath: Preventing Extinction And Moving Forward To Restore The Salmon Fishery

The Klamath Irrigation Project re-engineered the Upper Klamath Basin to divert water to grow crops in the high desert. The Klamath River and its salmon have borne the consequences, in the form of declining fisheries and catastrophic fish kills. The Yurok Tribe has invoked the federal Endangered Species Act to stave off extinction, but irrigators have fought back in every forum available. This presentation will feature the many courtroom struggles and the hope provided by removal of four Klamath River dams this year, which will restore hundreds of river miles of salmon habitat.

Patti Goldman – Senior Attorney, Earth Justice, Seattle 

> Eastern District of Washington Murdered and Missing Indigenous Person Program

Overview of DOJ's Missing or Murdered Indigenous Persons (MMIP) Regional Outreach Program, which permanently places 10 attorneys and coordinators in five designated regions across the United States to aid in the prevention and response to missing or murdered Indigenous people. The Eastern District of Washington is the designated district for the Western Region.

Bree Black Horse – U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Washington, Yakima 

> Ethics and the Media

Learn the ethical rules which apply when engaging with media and the press.

Sandra Schilling – Professional Responsibility Counsel, Washington State Bar Association, Seattle 

TO REGISTER, CLICK HERE.