Washington State’s new lawyer licensure reforms are a step in the right direction, especially with regard to diversifying our state's legal profession. But those reforms can't come at the expense of Washington-specific subject matters that are intended to broaden our society's access to the legal system.
In 2002, Washington added federal Indian law to its bar exam, becoming the second state in the country to do so. New Mexico was the first; South Dakota followed suit, becoming the third. When Washington moved to the uniform bar exam in 2011, it maintained federal Indian law as a bar exam subject.
Among the many reasons for adding and keeping federal Indian law were the need to increase lawyer competence in that arena so that more lawyers would be equipped to help meet the unmet legal needs of Indigenous people and those who interact with Indigenous people in Washington.
We still have miles to go in that regard. Indigenous people remain the most underrepresented racial demographic in our state's legal system, for example, with only 1 in 10 Indigenous people's civil legal needs being met by legal counsel. In other words, 90% of the Indigenous people in our state go unrepresented, including when they need it the most--whether in a child custody, divorce, employment, or eviction matter.
Because the NextGen exam does not include federal Indian law, it will be incumbent on Washington’s three law schools to ensure that federal Indian law is taught to every law student in our state. Each of our three schools must make the subject a prerequisite to graduating law school by 2026.
Gabe Galanda is an Indigenous rights attorney and the managing lawyer at Galanda Broadman. He has been named to Best Lawyers in America in the fields of Native American Law and Gaming Law from 2007 to 2024, and dubbed a Super Lawyer by his peers from 2013 to 2024.
