Northern Plains Indian Law Center 2022 Distinguished Speaker

FEATURING DAN LEWERENZ

April 5, 2022
3:00 p.m.
Room 203 | UND School of Law

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Meeting ID: 989 8433 4141
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Dan Lewerenz

Dan Lewerenz (Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska) is a Staff Attorney in the Washington, D.C., office of the Native American Rights Fund (“NARF”), and will join the faculty of the University of North Dakota School of Law beginning the 2022-23 school year.  

At NARF, Dan is coordinating the Tribal Supreme Court Project’s amicus efforts in Haaland v. Brackeen (No. 21-376), the case challenging the constitutionality of the Indian Child Welfare Act.  Dan’s portfolio at NARF also includes trial- and appellate-level litigation on a variety of matters, including treaty rights, voting rights, Tribal lands, and Tribal taxing authority.  

Before coming to NARF, Dan practiced law at the U.S. Department of the Interior and at the law firm Hobbs, Straus, Dean & Walker, LLP, and clerked for the Hon. Leo I. Brisbois (D. Minn.) and the Hon. Claudia Wilken (N.D. Cal.).  

Dan earned his J.D. from the University of Wisconsin Law School, and his B.S. in Philosophy from Kansas State University.  Before law school, Dan worked for more than a decade as a reporter and editor for The Associated Press; he was elected twice to the Board of Directors of the Native American Journalists Association, and served as that organization’s President, Vice-President, and Secretary.

Northern Plains Indian Law Center

The Center’s purposes are to assist tribal governments in addressing legal issues affecting tribal lands and members, and to promote diversity within the legal profession by increasing recruitment and retention of American Indian law students.

The Center is a clearinghouse for American Indian legal materials and provides a forum for discussing and resolving legal issues confronting Indian tribes, the states, and the federal government. It will also support tribal advocacy training programs. Among the Center’s programs are the Northern Plains Tribal Judicial Training Institute, the Native American Law Project, Tribal Environmental Law Project, and the Institute for the Study of Tribal Gaming Law and Policy.

The Northern Plains Indian Law Center is governed by an Internal Advisory Committee which consists of law school faculty and staff. The Center also receives valuable input from an External Advisory Board composed of tribal government officials, community members, attorneys, and educators.

Many members of the UND faculty and staff have taught, presented lectures, and published books and articles in the area of Indian Law.