Working with the Original Sovereigns: The Role of (Student) Lawyers and Clinical Teachers in Indian, Tribal and Native Hawaiian Law Clinics

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Session Type: Concurrent Sessions

Session Capacity: N/A

Location: N/A

Room: Waterview A

Floor: Lobby Level

Across the country, various Tribal, Indian, and Native Hawaiian Law Clinics have long been committed to working with and educating students while providing important and meaningful services to Native Nations. For some, that work involves practice in Tribal Courts and helping students understand the critical role those Courts play in defining, expressing, and asserting sovereignty. For others, the focus is supporting tribal governance, whether through the development of Tribal codes, support and technical assistance for tribal officials and their agencies or helping carry forward other priorities. For all of these Clinics, however, the teaching, pedagogy, and learning is approached from and engaged within the unique context of Indigenous sovereignty, the continuing role of settler-colonialism and American imperialism, and the specific cultural context of each individual Native Nation. This session brings together clinicians from across the country to discuss their work and how they approach their role (and the more general role of lawyers) working on behalf of Native Nations, as well as their approach to their responsibilities as clinical teachers preparing students to do the same. The panel offers a different (and oft-overlooked) perspective on the work of clinicians and the role of legal education in shaping the present and future generation of legal professionals. As Interpretation 303-6 of ABA standard 303 states, it is the “obligation of lawyers to promote a justice system that provides equal access and eliminates bias, discrimination, and racism in the law should be among the values and responsibilities … to which students are introduced,” and these clinicians are on the frontlines of that work every day.