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Legal Experience

I am the managing partner of the law firm of McElroy, Meyer, Walker & Condon, P.C., exclusively representing Indian tribes and their members in complex litigation in the areas of natural resources, tribal jurisdiction and administrative law.

I represent the Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians in Arizona regarding issues associated with the proposed development of a pipeline by the State of Utah to transport water from Lake Powell to St. George and Cedar City, Utah. This work requires substantial expertise in environmental law and administrative law relative to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Bureau of Land Management, as well as the National Environmental Policy Act, the National Historic Preservation Act, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, and many other applicable federal, state and tribal laws.

I am involved in the representation of the Navajo Nation in the assertion of its water rights claims in the Little Colorado River and Gila River general stream adjudications, and to claim water rights from the mainstem of the Colorado River. Additionally, I have worked with the Navajo Nation on environmental issues such as endangered fish and particulate concentration in the Little Colorado River and Gila River. I also represent the Navajo Nation in litigation opposing the State of Arizona's claim federal reserved water rights to serve its state trust lands. I also worked extensively on Arizona v. California litigation, representing the Colorado River Indian Tribes in both the United States Supreme Court as well as the Court of Federal Claims.

I represent the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Telephone Authority, a tribal entity wholly owned and operated by the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, in matters related to the provision and expansion of telecommunications services within the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation. I was involved in the representation of the Telephone Authority in its jurisdictional dispute with the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission regarding the Telephone Authority's desire to purchase three telephone exchanges from Qwest Communications, Inc. and the State of South Dakota's actions to prevent that purchase. That dispute required litigation in state and federal court, as well as the prosecution of an administrative action before the Federal Communications Commission. I have also represented the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Telephone Authority in the development of the tribal telecommunications code.

I represented the Walker River Paiute Tribe in ongoing water litigation in federal district court in Nevada, entitled United States v. Walker River Irrigation Dist. That matter involved complex civil litigation over the allocation of water from the Walker River and its tributaries, in which the Tribe and the United States asserted water rights from the river in addition to certain rights that were decreed in 1936. In addition, I participated extensively in the preparation of environmental compliance documents in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act on behalf of the Walker River Paiute Tribe. In particular, I was substantially involved in the compilation of an environmental impact statement for a project to repair and modify a dam located on the Walker River Indian Reservation, pursuant to the Indian Dams Safety Act. That work included negotiations with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Indian Affairs in order to ensure that the Tribe's interests were protected in the dam repair and modification process on the Tribe's reservation. I also analyzed the environmental, economic and cultural impacts of a Navy bombing range that encroaches on the Walker River Indian Reservation. I have worked for the Southern Ute Indian Tribe in its efforts to ensure environmental compliance for the Animas-La Plata Project. This work required substantial familiarity with the National Environmental Policy Act, the Clean Water Act, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, and the Endangered Species Act.

I was involved in the representation of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians in the inland phase of United States v. Michigan in which the Tribe, along with four other Michigan Indian tribes, asserted off-reservation hunting, fishing, trapping and gathering rights reserved under an 1836 treaty. I was also involved in the representation of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians in litigation challenging the Sault Tribe's ability to conduct gaming, pursuant to the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, on lands taken into trust for the Sault Tribe's benefit after the effective date of the Act. In November of 2008, we prevailed on behalf of the Sault Tribe, and the Tribe is now conducting its gaming on after-acquired lands in St. Ignace, Michigan. I also worked substantially on the Colville Tribes' gaming litigation, again involving litigation before the federal district courts and courts of appeals, as well as an administrative rulemaking proceeding before the Secretary of the Interior. The issues associated with the tribal gaming activities also have included matters related to local regulatory jurisdiction, employment issues, and tribal jurisdiction on trust lands.

I was involved in the representation of the Eastern Pequot Tribal Nation in the appeal by the State of Connecticut of the decision by the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Assistant Secretary --Indian Affairs to acknowledge the Nation under federal law. The appeal involved substantial familiarity with the federal acknowledgment regulations, which set forth mandatory criteria for federal acknowledgment, as well as the administrative appeals process. I also represented the Nation in the development of its tribal constitution, and provided the Nation with legal analyses addressing other federal acknowledgment proceedings, and the effect of changes in state law upon the Nation.

I was substantially involved in the litigation of the Southern Ute Indian Tribe's claim to coalbed methane associated with the Tribe's coal reserves underlying the Southern Ute Indian Reservation. I participated in all aspects of that litigation, from the district court level through the conclusion of the proceedings in the United States Supreme Court.

I represent the Navajo Nation in its dispute regarding Navajo uses of the Hopi Partitioned Lands. I have represented the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indian on taxation matters between the Tribe and the State of Michigan. I have participated in the analysis of certain potential land claims of the Siletz Tribe in Oregon. I also assisted in the development of environmental codes for the Walker River Paiute Tribe as well as a water code and water quality standards program for the Tribe. I helped establish and currently represent a non-profit organization dedicated to the protection of American Indian sacred sites. I successfully applied for tax exempt status pursuant to § 501(c)(3) for that foundation, as well as for the Colorado Indian Bar Association.

 

Employment History

McElroy, Meyer, Walker & Condon, P.C.
(formerly Greene, Meyer & McElroy, P.C.)
Boulder, Colorado
July 1992 to Present

Hobbs, Straus, Dean & Walker
Washington, D.C.
August 1991 to May 1992
Law clerk

Sonosky, Chambers, Sonosky & Endreson
Washington, D.C.
September 1989 to August 1991
Law clerk

Georgetown University Law Center
Washington, D.C.
June 1989 to September 1989
Research assistant

Education

Georgetown University Law Center
Washington, D.C.
Juris Doctor, 1992

Georgetown University School of Foreign Service
Washington, D.C.
Master of Science, 1992

Earlham College
Richmond, Indiana
Bachelor of Arts, 1987

Professional Associations

Colorado Indian Bar Association
President, 1996 to 2000
Vice-President, 1994-1996

Colorado Law Firm Pledge to Diversity Group
1999 to Present

Colorado Bar Association
1993 to Present

Boulder County Bar Association
1993 to Present

American Bar Association
1993 to Present

Federal Bar Association, Colorado Chapter

Admitted To Practice

United States Supreme Court

Supreme Court of the State of Colorado

United States District Court for the District of Colorado

United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit

United States Court of Federal Claims

United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan

United States District Court for the District of Oregon

United States District Court for the Southern District of California

Speeches And Presentations

June 1995: Delivered speech addressing Southern Ute Indian Tribe v. Amoco Prod. Co. (D. Colo.) and Southern Ute Indian Tribe v. United States (Ct. Cls.) at Eastern Mineral Law Foundation, Nashville, Tennessee.

April 1997: Delivered guest lecture entitled "Native American Water Rights: The Animas-La Plata Settlement", for seminar on New Perspectives on Western Water Resources Management in the 21st Century at University of Wyoming, Lander, Wyoming.

August 1998: Delivered speech addressing Tribal Code Development at the Natural Resource and Environmental Law on the Reservation Conference, Phoenix, Arizona.

April 1999: Delivered speech addressing United States v. Walker River Irrigation Dist., No. C-125 (D. Nev.) at the Federal Bar Association, Indian Law Conference, Tribal Water Rights Panel, Albuquerque, New Mexico.

October 2000: Delivered speech addressing Tribal Environmental Issues, Walker River Basin, at the Nevada Water Law Conference, Reno, Nevada, cited by Supreme Court of Nevada in Mineral County v. State of Nevada, 20 P.3d 800, 803 n.8 (Nev. 2001).

February 2001: Delivered speech addressing United States v. Walker River Irrigation Dist., No. C-125 (D. Nev.), at the Nevada Water Resources Association Annual Conference, Reno, Nevada.

January 2004: Delivered speech addressing Navajo Nation's Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief (D. Ariz.) on the Colorado River at The Great Plains Tribal Water Alliance Organizational Meeting, Rapid City, South Dakota.

November 2007: Delivered speech addressing Kaibab Band of Paiute Indians and Utah's Lake Powell Pipeline, and the Law of the Colorado River, at the 2007 Tri-State Southern Paiute Water Rights Conference.

February 2009: Participated as judge in National Native American Law Students Association Moot Court Competition, judging four arguments as appellate judge, at the University of Colorado School of Law, Boulder, Colorado.