Matt Slovin Publishes NYU Law Review Article

Galanda Broadman associate Matt Slovin’s article “Stipulating to Overturn Klaxon” has been published by the NYU Law Review.

In the article, Slovin evaluates explicit and implicit agreements by litigants as to which jurisdiction’s law governs a dispute. He argues that the forum state’s law must determine whether these agreements are valid.

In May, Slovin presented his article to faculty gathered in Manhattan at the Seventh Annual Civil Procedure Workshop, hosted by Cardozo School of Law. 

Slovin’s practice focuses on complex litigation involving tribal governments and enterprises. He is a graduate of Harvard Law School.

University of Arizona Law Dedicates Room in Honor of Galanda Broadman’s Indigenous Human Rights Advocacy

In recognition of the significant financial support and contributions to Indigenous human rights advocacy made by Galanda Broadman PLLC, the law school has dedicated the Galanda Broadman room in the firm’s honor.

The Galanda Broadman Room was dedicated on April 27, 2022. The room dedication ceremony included remarks by Regents Professor Robert A. Williams, Jr., Navajo Nation Chief Justice Emeritus Robert Yazzie, and former chairman of the Skokomish Tribal Council Denny Hurtado.

Founded by University of Arizona Law alumni Gabe Galanda (’00) and Anthony Broadman (’07), Galanda Broadman PLLC tackles critical and complex litigation, bet-the-company business matters and regulatory disputes for tribal governments, enterprises, and citizens. Under Galanda and Broadman’s leadership, the firm has been at the forefront of Indigenous human rights advocacy since its inception. 

The Galanda Broadman Room will provide meeting and advising space for students and faculty in the Indigenous Governance Program, a partnership between University of Arizona Law and the Native Nation Institute. The Galanda Broadman Room will also support the creation of the School of Indigenous Governance and Development, a first of its kind inter-disciplinary program focused on meeting the Native nation-building needs of Indigenous nations through professional development and undergraduate and graduate programs. The School of Indigenous Governance and Development will allow University of Arizona to scale up Indigenous governance programming and partnerships, pursuant to the University of Arizona strategic plan.

“Gabe, Anthony, Joe and Ryan are doing some of the most important civil rights work of our times.  We are honored to have them as Arizona Law alumni, and deeply grateful for their substantial and sustained support of our students and world-renowned IPLP Program.  Their support of the Huerta Scholarship and the IPLP Program has allowed the law school to recruit record numbers of extraordinary Indigenous students into our graduate law programs,” said Marc Miller, dean of University of Arizona Law.

Over the years the partners of Galanda Broadman PLLC, including Galanda, Broadman, fellow alumni Joe Sexton (’06), Ryan Dreveskracht (’09), and Amber Penn-Roco have made transformational contributions to Indigenous human rights advocacy and have been steadfast supporters of University of Arizona Law’s Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy (IPLP) Program. 

“Galanda Broadman’s support to the law school and our students and their leadership in advancing Indigenous human rights made naming a room a fitting honor,” said Williams. “I can think of few law firms in the country that have made as many significant contributions as Galanda Broadman. I am so proud of our University of Arizona alumni; Gabe, Anthony, Joe, and Ryan, who all embody the IPLP spirit of community engagement and supporting the next generation of Indigenous lawyers.”

Galanda Broadman Paralegal/Litigation Assistant (Hybrid) Position Announcement

Galanda Broadman, PLLC, an Indigenous rights firm with nine lawyers and offices in Seattle and Yakima, Washington, and Bend, Oregon, seeks to add an experienced paralegal/litigation assistant to our growing civil rights practice in Seattle.

Galanda Broadman is an Indigenous owned firm dedicated to advancing tribal and tribal citizen legal rights and tribal business interests.  The firm represents tribal governments, businesses, and citizens in critical litigation, business and regulatory matters, especially in the areas of Treaty rights, tribal sovereignty, land rights, cultural property protection, taxation, commerce, gaming, serious/catastrophic personal injury, wrongful death, disenrollment defense, and Indigenous human/civil rights.

The firm seeks an individual with solid litigation and case management experience and proven abilities under pressure, and who exhibits the following attributes: attention to detail; solid writing and organization; tech savvy; critical, proactive and creative thinking; strong work ethic; and sound ethics and morals.  The position will also support office managerial and administrative efforts.

Salary DOE (at least $90,000). Benefits include health care, 80 hours of PTO/year (in addition to most federal holidays), and remote work for at least four days per week.

Qualified applicants should submit a cover letter tailored to this announcement, as well as a resume, and list of a least three educational and professional references, to Alice Hall, the firm’s Office Manager, at alice@galandabroadman.com, as soon as possible.

Closes: June 1, 2022 or When Filled

Help Team Galanda Broadman Beat the Bridge for Indigenous Diabetes Research

On Saturday morning, May 14, Team Galanda Broadman will compete in Seattle’s Beat the Bridge Race to bring awareness to the need for greater Indigenous diabetes research.

Indigenous Americans are twice as likely as Caucasians to have diabetes. For two out of three Indigenous Americans with kidney failure, diabetes is the cause.

The race is a fundraiser for JDRF, a leading global organization that funds diabetes research. The event consists of an 8K run and wheelchair race, a 3-mile walk, and a 1-mile fun run. Team Galanda Broadman members of all ages will participate in all three events.

The event got its name “Beat the Bridge” because the course travels over Seattle’s University Bridge, which is raised during the race. Participants try to cross the bridge before it is raised.

Please consider donating to JDRF in support of Team Galanda Broadman’s efforts to beat the bridge and bring awareness to Indigenous diabetes research needs.

You can donate here.

Rachael Shulman Joins Galanda Broadman

Rachael Shulman has joined Galanda Broadman PLLC as an Associate. Rachael joins the firm after serving as an Assistant Public Defender in the Missouri State Public Defender’s Appellate/Postconviction Relief Division.

“We are excited about the criminal justice experience Rachael brings to our firm,” said Gabriel S. Galanda, Managing Lawyer of Galanda Broadman. “She will be an asset to our Indigenous civil rights clients, especially those whose rights have been violated by jail and police officers.”

Rachael is a 2021 graduate of the Washington University School of Law, where she was a quarter-finalist in the Wiley Rutledge Moot Court Competition and received the CLEA Outstanding Student Extern Award for her work with the Interdisciplinary Environmental Clinic and the Center for International Environmental Law in Washington, D.C.

She has also served as a legal intern for the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy and the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

In her free time, Rachael enjoys riding horses, running, hiking national parks, cooking, and spending time with her two dogs, Paloma and Dottie.

Rachael joins a growing bench of Galanda Broadman team members. Harvard Law School alumnus Matt Slovin and University of Washington Law School alumna Corinne Sebren also recently joined the firm as Associates. 

Galanda Broadman is an Indigenous rights law firm with nine lawyers and offices in Seattle and Yakima, Washington and Bend, Oregon. The firm is dedicated to advancing Indigenous Treaty, sovereignty, and human rights.

Ryan Dreveskracht, Corinne Sebren Quoted in Rolling Stone

Over the weekend, Rolling Stone magazine published an investigative article on Emanuel Fair’s wrongful imprisonment for the murder of Arpana Jinaga in 2008, and his lawsuit against the City of Redmond and the Redmond Police Department.  He is represented by Galanda Broadman.

According to the article, there was “persuasive evidence against at least six other suspects that the detectives were investigating — none of whom were Black, and none of whom spent a day in jail for Jinaga’s murder.”

Rolling Stone reports racial profiling was central to the case, with both the city and police department failing to use proper protocol in garnering evidence: “Those protocol failures, the suit alleges, in concert with the detectives’ apparent racial discrimination, deprived Emanuel Fair of his civil rights, and denied Arpana Jinaga any chance at justice.”

Ryan Dreveskracht and Corinne Sebren are both quoted in the article.

Corinne contended that “There’s very little justice left to salvage.” There is, however, a person trying to salvage a life interrupted, trying to return to life after a decade in purgatory, thanks to a legal system that still won’t concede it’s done anything wrong. 

Ryan added, “Under the law, ‘probable cause’ requires you to look at the whole picture,” And “You can’t leave out the fact that there was basically everyone else’s DNA at the scene, too. And they did.” 

Emanuel was targeted and jailed for a crime he didn’t commit.  He suffered from nine years of imprisonment, much of which was spent in solitary confinement.

“The suit contends that Fair never would have been in that cell — and certainly not for years — if he weren’t a Black man with a criminal record.”

Rebecca Mehra Helps Provide Local Indigenous Girls Access to Sports

Last weekend Rebecca Mehra volunteered at a Bras for Girls event in Seattle where over 700 sports bras and over 1,000 pieces of other athletic gear were given to girls in need.

One of more than ten recipient organizations was Seattle Public Schools’ Native American Education Program, which is managed by Gail Morris.  Rebecca and Gail collaborated to have 100 sports bras donated to Indigenous girls in that program.

Only 20% of US girls engage in at least 60 minutes of physical activity daily, and that number is significantly lower for Indigenous populations.  Bras for Girls is hoping to help change these trends.

 Bras for Girls believes every girl deserves access to sports and lack of access to a sports bra should never be a barrier. They work with organizations across the US to provide girls with sports bras as well as breast development education. Since 2017, the organization has donated over 15,000 sports bras, and plans to donate another 15,000 in 2022 alone.

 Aside from her part-time work with Galanda Broadman, Rebecca is a professional athlete for Oiselle, a women’s athletic brand based in Seattle. She is training to make Team USA for the World Championships this summer, and enjoys finding opportunities to give back to her community through sport.

Gabe Galanda Lectures at Harvard on Tribal Neocolonialism

Gabe Galanda joined a class of Harvard University students last Wednesday to deliver a lecture titled, “Tribal Neocolonialism & the Transmutation of Indigenous Kinship Societies.”

Gabe addressed Professor Eric Henson’s class, “Native Americans in the Twenty-First Century.” His presentation provided a history of Indigenous kinship dictates, federal Indian per-capita law and policy, and tribal disenrollment and enrollment moratoria.

His conclusion: “Indigenous kinship dictates have eroded. Venal exclusion has supplanted Indigenous belonging.”  Download his slides here.

Gabe Galanda is an Indigenous rights attorney and the managing lawyer at Galanda Broadman in Seattle. He belongs to the Round Valley Indian Tribes of California, descending from the Nomlaki and Concow Peoples.

Ryan Dreveskracht Pens “Junk Science & How Government Avoids Truth in Excessive Force Cases”

Last month, Ryan Dreveskracht wrote an article for Trial News regarding what we learned in Lacy v. Snohomish County trial, specifically about the well-known dangers of prone position restraint technique that lead to restraint asphyxia in victims.

He claims that a "small group of academics have permeated vital components of how we train our police in the United States [and how] their opinions—which are not based in reality—have metastasized."  The studies cited by these “experts”—written by the same “experts,” in a feedback loop of bad science—conclude that prone position restraint is safe in “healthy adults males.”  Be that as it may, the studies do not account for real world conditions, or those who are experiencing delirium, exhaustion, or substance use, or have underlying conditions. 

Although this restraint position has led to death “at least 107” times since 2010, according to the article, major police training organizations, including Lexipool’s Police One, continue to perpetuate the dangerous myth that restraint asphyxia has been "debunked."   

Ryan Dreveskracht is a partner at Galanda Broadman. Ryan’s practice focuses defending individuals’ constitutional rights and bringing police misconduct and wrongful death cases on local and national levels. Ryan also represents businesses and tribal governments in public affairs, gaming, taxation, and energy development.

Three Galanda Broadman Indigenous Rights Lawyers Honored by Super Lawyers

Indigenous rights lawyers Gabe Galanda (Round Valley), Anthony Broadman, and Amber Penn-Roco (Chehalis) were each honored by Super Lawyers magazine for 2022.

Gabe and Anthony were named “Super Lawyers” and Amber a “Rising Star,” all in the field of Native American Law.

Galanda Broadman, PLLC, was also recently named a “Best Law Firm” by U.S. News - Best Lawyers in the arena of Native American Law and Gaming Law, for the 10th year in a row. 

With eight lawyers and offices in Seattle and Yakima, Washington and Bend, Oregon, the firm is dedicated to advancing and protecting Indigenous rights.