In a historic stance against disenrollment, the National Native American Bar Association has declared:
that it is immoral and unethical for any lawyer to advocate for or contribute to the divestment or restriction of the American indigenous right of tribal citizenship, without equal protection at law or due process of law or an effective remedy for the violation of such rights.
In a paper he recently published for the Federal Bar Association's 16th Annual Indian Law Conference in Washington, DC---"Exposing Abramoff’s Playbook: Exploiting, or Filling, the Ethical Void for Tribal Lawyers"---Gabe Galanda has likewise decried disenrollment lawyering as unethical and immoral:
when lawyers advocate, cause or facilitate any disenrollment proceeding that lacks a good faith basis in law and fact, they are violating ethical rules or norms—and acting immorally. That is especially the case when they carry out the termination of enrolled Indians who decry Tribal Council factionalism.
Gabriel “Gabe” Galanda is the Managing Partner at Galanda Broadman. He belongs to the Round Valley Indian Tribes. Gabe can be reached at 206.300.7801 or gabe@galandabroadman.com.
