Clinic Projects

The Tribal Court Public Defense Clinic currently has several on-going projects in which students may participate.  If you are interested in working on one of these projects, please contact Clinic faculty for information.

Native American Law Center Legal Fellow Program

Seeing the success of the Tulalip model, several other tribes asked for service and to achieve this, the Native American Law Center created a Legal Fellowship program. The Fellow acts as a public defender in all tribal courts served by the Clinic under the supervision of Clinic faculty.

This fellowship was created in 2006 and is one year appointment with an opportunity for an additional year depending upon agreement by the fellow and law school faculty.  Eligibility requires the applicant’s appointment to be within six years of receipt of their Juris Doctor degree.  Individuals are selected according to their experienced and interest in Indian law and tribal court public defense practice.  The current fellowship appointment will end in summer of 2010, although additional fellowship appointments may occur with changes in circumstances.  Letters of interest for the 2010-2012 or newly created or vacated fellowships may be submitted by email to the Clinic Director.

Native American Law Center/Navajo Public Defender Partnership

In 2007, the Native American Law Center entered into a partnership with the Office of Navajo Public Defender to provide reciprocal training of defender staff and Clinic students during a weeklong visit.  In addition Clinic students meet with Navajo judges and observe the Navajo court system.  The students also attend a training at the Dine’ Policy Institute.  This yearly trip to the Navajo Nation culminates in a visit to Canyon De Chelly in the company of a traditional Navajo family.

Native American Law Center/UW Asian Law Center

Professors Ron Whitener and Molly Cohan are working with the UWLS Asian Law Center on issues of incorporation of traditional tribal concepts of justice into pluralistic court systems. The Asian Law Center provides training through the Afghan Legal Educators Program for Law and Shari'a faculties at universities throughout Afghanistan. In the company of Clinic faculty and students, several of the Afghan scholars visited Tulalip Tribal Court, participated in the week long training at the Navajo Nation and attended joint conferences with the Native Law Center and Dine' Policy Institute.  This collaborative work is focused on the efforts of tribal courts to meld traditional forms of tribal justice and dispute resolution with western adversary court ideals and processes.   

Native American Law Center/Dine’ Policy Institute Partnership

The 2007 trip to the Navajo Nation led to the development of a partnership with the Dine’ Policy Institute at the Dine’ College in Tsaile. Led by Robert Yazzie, the former Chief Justice emeritus of the Navajo Supreme Court, the primary focus of the Institute is the integration of fundamental law and values into all branches of the Navajo government. Clinic students and faculty work collaboratively with the Institute on a number of projects related to the challenges of developing culturally responsive tribal court systems.