Four lawyers, including three from Patton Boggs, have joined SNR Denton’s Indian law and tribal representation and public policy and regulations practices in the firm’s Washington office.
Heather Sibbison joins the firm as partner. Suzanne Schaeffer and George Skibine are counsel for the firm, and Joshua Clause is an associate.
Previously, Sibbison was a partner and chair of the Native American affairs practice at Patton Boggs. She also served at the Department of Justice as counsel to the assistant attorney general for environment and natural resources. Her practice will focus on issues such as fee-to-trust land acquisitions, Indian land determinations, compliance with the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act and federal recognition issues, according to a firm press release.
Schaeffer previously was of counsel at Patton Boggs. Her practice will focus on Indian lands and environmental compliance matters, according to the firm’s release. She also served as assistant solicitor for environment, land and minerals at the Department of the Interior from 2000 to 2005, according to her biography on SNR Denton’s website.
Skibine, former deputy assistant secretary for management—Indian affairs at the Department of the Interior, will focus his practice on gaming and tribal land acquisitions, according to the firm’s release. Skibine is an enrolled member of the Osage Nation of Oklahoma. He has also served as Chairman of the National Indian Gaming Commission from October 2009 to June 2010, according to the commission's website.
Clause, formerly an associate at Patton Boggs, will focus his practice assisting tribal governments with navigating the fee-to-trust process, according to the release. Clause is a citizen of the Mohawk Nation and is enrolled at Six Nations of the Grand River Territory, according to his biography on the firm’s website.
“These lawyers are some of the most highly regarded professionals working in the tribal area,” Alan R. Fedman, head of SNR Denton’s Indian law and tribal representation practice, said in a firm press release.
How is it the George Skibine can leave his federal employment at D.O.I., B.I.A. and N.I.G.C. and immediately go to work for a firm that loibbies these same agencies for tribal clients, and gaming interests?
Posted by: Jim Marino | October 17, 2011 at 11:00 AM