Tribal Legal Licensing of Attorneys, House Counsel Status, and The Opportunity to Redefine the JD Preferred Position and the Entire Lawyer Ecosystem

Authors

Nicholas J. Stamates, North Florida Surgeons, P.A.Follow

Abstract

The recognized right of Indian Tribes to license has been a known reality dating back to the Supreme Court’s ruling in Worcester v. Georgia, 31 U.S. 515 (1832) where state law was found inapplicable on the lands of the Cherokee. However, the modern implications of tribal licensing and regulation have only just begun to be explored in the context of the modern American regulatory system. In fact, the ability of Indian Tribes to license attorneys to practice law within their court systems has largely gone unexamined outside of a few exceptions such as the Tribal Law and Order Act of 2010. In 2022, at Fidelity National Financial, a Fortune 500 Company located in Jacksonville, Florida, the implications of this sovereign power were displayed through my application for “Authorized House Counsel status” in Florida based on my admission to the Bar of the St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin, a federally recognized Indian Tribe. After a five-month process with the Florida Bar, I was admitted as house counsel thus providing a case study in the redefining of Indian Tribes as U.S. Jurisdictions of law in the aftermath of the Treaty Era of Indian Affairs. This article will examine the early pioneers of Tribal legal licensing, and the history of Tribes licensing attorneys and advocates in their court system through their sovereignty. This article will also spotlight the incredible opportunity presented for JD preferred position holders and their employers in this underexamined regulatory area. In coordination with house counsel admissions and pro hac vice opportunities, Tribal legal licensing may provide a solution to the attorney shortage in Indian Country and rural areas of the country which has been exacerbated in the aftermath of McGirt.

Recommended Citation

Nicholas J. Stamates, Tribal Legal Licensing of Attorneys, House Counsel Status, and The Opportunity to Redefine the JD Preferred Position and the Entire Lawyer Ecosystem, 30 Mich. J. Race & L. 103 (2025).
Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mjrl/vol30/iss1/4