Nebraska MCLE #252739.  2.0 CLE Hours. (OnDemand credit)

Federal Indian Law poses many complex and unique issues that have developed and changed over time. There are currently 574 federally recognized tribes in the United States. This CLE will provide a brief overview and history of Federal Indian Law over the past two centuries. There will be many areas covered including jurisdictional issues, tribal self-determination, and the evolving federal-state-tribal dynamic.

Gregory D. Smith, J.D.,Cumberland School of Law 1988, is an attorney and part-time judge from Clarksville, TN. He is a member of six (6) tribal appellate courts (AZ, CA, NY, NE, OK, & WI). He is a Justice on the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska Court of Appeals. Mr. Smith is Chief Justice of both the Pawnee Nation Supreme Court in Oklahoma and the St. Regis Mohawk Tribal Court of Appeals in New York. Mr. Smith also serves as the Chief Judge of the U.S. Department of the Interior's Court of Indian Appeals. He teaches Federal Indian Law at the Lincoln Memorial University School of Law in Knoxville, TN and was named the Tennessee Municipal Judges Conference Judge of the Year in 2017. Judge Smith authored the Tennessee Municipal Judges Benchbook which was cited by the Harvard Law Review in 2021 and he was the feature of an ABA Journal article in 2020 regarding his unique practice that juggles both judicial and attorney duties. Smith teaches for the National Judicial College in the areas of Ethics and Evidence. Mr. Smith has spoken at numerous law schools as well as at the United Nations.

Samantha Jo Weiss is an Associate Attorney at Big Fire Law & Policy Group, LLP. She has dedicated her career to working with Indian tribes. She has worked with tribes in several states and in many capacities including but not limited to tribal judiciaries and tribal housing authorities. She is a 2018 graduate of the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law at Arizona State University. 

Patrick R. Runge is the Chief Judge for the Winnebago Tribal Court, and has previously served as the Chief Judge of the Ponca Tribal Court. Patrick also is an attorney in private practice with an office located in Omaha, focusing on juvenile law, family law, criminal defense, and estate planning. In addition, Patrick is an associate professor at the Creighton University School of Law, teaching Native American Law.

Jennifer Bear Eagle is a Senior Associate Attorney at Big Fire Law & Policy Group, LLP. She has extensive experience working with Indian tribes in all areas of tribal governance and self-determination. She previously served as lead general counsel for the Oglala Sioux Tribe and the Oglala Sioux Tribal Council. She is a past Chairperson of the Nebraska Commission on Indian Affairs. She serves on the University of Nebraska College of Law Alumni Advisory Board and is a 2022 Nebraska State Bar Foundation Fellow. Ms. Bear Eagle is the current Chairperson and one of the Indian Law Section co-founders.

If you have any questions for the presenter(s) of this webinar, please send your question via email to Allyson Felt at afelt@nebar.com. She will forward your question to the presenter(s), who will provide an answer promptly.

Active Nebraska attorneys are required to complete 10 hours of continuing legal education (CLE) each year. Two of those 10 hours must be in the field of professional responsibility (ethics). Nebraska attorneys may claim only 5 hours of distance-learning CLE per year. Webinars viewed on this portal are considered distance-learning. After completing a viewing of a webinar on this portal, you must self-report your CLE credit on the Nebraska Supreme Court’s Attorney Services Division’s website at https://mcle.wcc.ne.gov.

For more information about Nebraska CLE requirements, see the MCLE Commission’s website at https://supremecourt.nebraska.gov/13449/mandatory-continuing-legal-education-mcle. For questions about CLE requirements, your own CLE transcript, or about reporting CLE credit online, contact the Nebraska Supreme Court’s Attorney Services Division at (531) 510-3641. For questions about this portal, contact the Nebraska State Bar Association at (402) 475-7091.