Hwal'Ba Bay dba GCRC: Subordinate Economic Organizations and Tribal Sovereign Immunity

Peter A Larson Related Seminars and Products

Attorney

Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie LLP

Peter A. Larson is a partner with Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie LLP in the firm's Tribal Affairs, Public Finance, and Gaming practice groups. His transactional practice focuses on representing Indian tribes, tribal entities in financing matters, and commercial and economic development in Indian Country. Peter has considerable experience in all areas of Indian gaming, including Indian lands determinations, federal, state and tribal regulatory matters, and representation of tribal gaming agencies. He also works on other economic development issues, including land use and leasing, tribal court development, taxation issues, development of tribal laws and regulations, and regularly interacts with the NIGC and the Department of Interior.

Thomas J McReynolds Related Seminars and Products

Senior Attorney

Kewenvoyouma Law, PLLC

("TJ") is an experienced and dedicated Indian law practitioner who focuses on tribal economic development, energy & environmental matters, and Indian land and water rights. He has represented tribal clients in major fee-to-trust conversions, gaming and hospitality developments, land acquisition matters, monumental energy projects, oil and gas matters, and complex water rights settlements. He also provides legal advice to tribal governments concerning governance issues, corporate matters and also drafts laws, ordinances and regulations.

His specialties include, Indian Gaming, fee-to-trust, tribal government, water, environmental law, oil and gas, and economic development.

TJ was raised at the Pueblo de San Ildefonso, NM, and began his legal career in 2003. Upon graduating from the University of Denver, Strum College of Law, TJ clerked for the Honorable Nathan B. Coats of the Colorado Supreme Court and then joined an International Law firm in Washington, D.C. representing tribal governments and advocating for them before various federal agencies and congressional delegations. After his stint in Washington, D.C., TJ moved back west working as general counsel for a large tribe's gaming regulatory body and then for a boutique Indian law firm where he continued his representation of tribal governments and tribally owned business and gaming facilities. He recently served as In-House General Counsel for the Pueblo of Nambe before transitioning back to private practice in October of 2020; he is now with Kewenvoyouma Law. TJ is a former board member of the Tribal In-House Council Association and a current member of the Board of Trustees for the Wheelwright Museum of the American Indian located in Santa Fe, NM.

TJ is admitted in Colorado, Washington, D.C., New Mexico and Arizona. He is also admitted to the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Paul Spruhan Related Seminars and Products

Navajo Nation Department of Justice

is Visiting Assistant Professor in the Law and Indigenous Peoples Program at the University of New Mexico School of Law. From October 2008 to October 2024, he was Assistant Attorney General at the Navajo Nation Department of Justice in Window Rock, Arizona. In that capacity, he litigated civil cases in federal, Navajo Nation, and state courts on a wide range of issues, including tribal sovereignty, environmental regulation, and labor and employment. He also drafted and negotiated contracts and intergovernmental agreements with private parties and state and federal agencies. He received his A.B. in 1995 and his A.M. in 1996 from the University of Chicago. He received his J.D. in 2000 from the University of New Mexico. He and his wife, Bidtah Becker, have two children and live in Fort Defiance on the Navajo Nation.