On November 7th, I will be speaking on a panel as to what it is like to practice in tribal courts. I have been licensed to practice in the courts of the Colville Confederated Tribes since 1999. I took the tribal bar was I was the elected prosecutor in Ferry County. The county commissioners at the time had an interest in land use litigation going on between a non-tribal member and the Tribes. I was asked to write an amicus brief, and so I scheduled myself to take the tribal bar. I never ended up being able to write the amicus brief and never practiced in the court until 2003 when I opened my private practice. For the next 5 years or so I was appointed by the court to defend indigent defendants on criminal cases. In later years I have represented criminal defendants on a private basis including in state and federal courts. I always have enjoyed working in the Colville Tribal Courts. Over the years I have done a variety of criminal cases there from DUI to homicide case.
