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Brad Jolly has practiced Indian law exclusively representing Indian tribes for his entire career. He graduated from the Indian Legal Program cum laude from Arizona State University College of Law, where he received the Alan A. Matheson Service Award and was a Pedrich Scholar. He also served as President of the Native American Law Students Association and as a student member of the Indian Legal Program Faculty Committee. Brad graduated with honors from the University of California at Berkeley with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Native American Studies. While attending law school, he published an article in the Arizona State University Law Journal entitled The Indian Gaming Regulatory Act: The Unwavering Policy of Termination Continues, which analyzed the IGRA as an invasion of tribal sovereignty and an extension of the Termination Era legislation, P.L. 280, to all tribes in the area of gaming. The article has been cited by federal courts and the Secretary of the Interior. In addition, Brad served as a law clerk for the Colorado River Indian Tribes and the Fort McDowell Mohave-Apache Indian Community. He also has drafted rules of court for the recognition and enforcement of tribal court judgments for the Arizona State, Tribal, and Federal Court Forum, which were finally adopted by the Arizona Supreme Court in May 2000.

After graduating from law school, Brad was given a fellowship at the Arizona State University College of Law where he worked toward establishing an Indian Law Clinic and supervised students in assisting various Indian tribes with legal issues. Brad also served as Assistant Attorney General for the Colorado River Indian Tribes of Arizona and California, where he directly advised the Tribal Council and individual tribal departments and his practice included a wide range of Indian law issues, including jurisdictional matters, gaming issues and arbitrations, trespass actions, quiet title actions, contracts and taxation issues. Before establishing the firm, Brad worked for several years as an associate at a small law firm in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he solely represented Indian tribes as general and special counsel and practiced Federal Indian law and Tribal law, conducting both transactional work and litigating on behalf of tribe's and tribal instrumentalities and agencies located in several states in a wide range of matters, including governmental, commercial, economic, gaming, Indian Gaming Regulatory Act, and employment matters.

Brad has represented Indian tribes throughout the United States, including Arizona, California, South Dakota, North Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota, and Nebraska, as general and special counsel continuously throughout his career. He is admitted to practice in the State of Arizona, the State of Nebraska, the United States Supreme Court, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, the U.S. District Court for Arizona, the U.S. District Court for Colorado, the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska Tribal Court, the Hopi Tribal Court, the Tribal Court of the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux (Dakota) Community, and the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Court. He is a member of the Indian Law Section of the Arizona State Bar and the Federal Bar Association.

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INDIAN LAW UPDATES

Indian Veterans' Cemetery Bill Passes Congress

Congressman Tom Udall's (D-NM) bill to allow tribes to receive funds for veterans' cemeteries passed both houses of Congress. Under the Native American Veterans Cemetery Act, tribes can establish cemeteries... more »

Native Languages Legislation Passes Congress

Congress passed the Esther Martinez Native American Languages Preservation Act of 2006, sending it to the President for signature. The Act provides for the revitalization of Indian languages through support... more »

New Judge Assigned to Cobell Litigation

Judge James Robertson, an appointee of the Clinton administration, has been assigned to preside over the Cobell litigation, taking over from Judge Lamberth, who was removed by the appellate court... more »

Tribes Seeking Exclusion from NLRA

Representative J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ) has introduced a bill that would provide that tribes are not subject to the National Labor Relations Act ("NLRA"). As some may recall, the Hotel Employees and Restaurant... more »