Tribal Unified Legal Department Little River Band of Ottawa Indians

Nice to Meet You Shayne Machen Rebecca Liebing Caitlin Rollins Has been with LRBOI since September of 2015 Rebecca Liebing Has been with LRBOI since January of 2016 Caitlin Rollins Has been with LRBOI since July of 2016

Who are we to Little River? We’re in-house staff attorneys, contract employees. Our client is the Tribe. We handle or oversee 100% of the legal services for the government, it’s commissions, boards, committees, and enterprises. Exceptions: Prosecutor Members Assistance Economic Development Election Board

Unified Legal Department’s Mission The primary goal of the Legal Department created by this Ordinance is to provide high quality legal services to the Tribe. A secondary goal is to assist in resolving disputes over legal issues within and between individual branches of Tribal government and individual commissions, departments, officers, and employees of the Tribe in an efficient manner and with a minimum of conflict wherever possible.

Little River’s Three Branch Government Modeled on the US Federal system with direct election from the membership Executive 4 year term General Election Legislative 4 nine county; 4 outlying; 1 at large=9 Councilors “To employ legal counsel”-Tribal Constitution Judicial 6 year term Chief Judge; Associate Judge; 3 Appellate Judges

It wasn’t always this way Previously, the Executive and Legislative branches each had their own attorney. Their attorneys represented individual branches rather than the Tribe as a whole. The branches weren’t the only ones with their own attorneys: The Gaming Commission The Resort The Election Board The Department of Natural Resources Not to mention all of the outside counsel we contracted for specific projects

It wasn’t always this way Previously, the Tribe had a Legal Reform Act that governed two legal departments. One overseen by the Ogema and the other by Tribal Council. The client for these attorneys was the Ogema and Tribal Council, respectively. Each body had exclusive hiring authority over their own attorneys. Except that Tribal Council’s approval is required for all contracts. There was no limitation on when or how one branch could sue another.

Issues with the old structure In 15 years, the Tribe went through 16 in-house attorneys. Unintended consequence of giving individual attorneys to certain branches, departments, or enterprises: Other departments were legally neglected because they weren’t assigned an attorney. There were no procedures or best practices for in- house attorneys. Teamwork was sparse.

Creation of a Unified Legal Department In February of 2015, the Tribal Council made a change and created the Unified Legal Department Ordinance. The Ordinance immediately combined the legislative and executive branch attorneys into one department and gave ULD oversight of all outside counsel.

How has business changed? Who do we report to? The Tribal Council Speaker and the Ogema. The Speaker and the Ogema have exclusive hiring authority. We can only be assigned work by the Speaker, Ogema, or Tribal Council Recorder. We’ve cut down significantly on the use of outside legal counsel. All outside legal counsel is assigned by ULD. We handle all legal bills. Increased accountability with outside counsel.

How has business changed? We’re handling more of the litigation. Improved communication with all attorneys and Judges who are employed by the Tribe. More consistency in contract reviews and handling legal issues. We have a bird’s eye view of how various issues are interrelated and are able to issue spot more effectively. We work in a team-oriented environment.

How has business changed? 2015 was the first year in the Tribe’s history that there was no inter-branch litigations. 2016 is on track to be the same way. Cost savings. Why? The ordinance provides that prior to one branch instituting a lawsuit against the other, they need two legal opinions from ULD and an advisory opinion from the Court.

How does the department function How is work assigned? Speaker, Recorder, or Ogema send an email with an assignment We divide first by topics, then by time How is work reviewed? There is no “legal boss” We decide what work gets reviewed by another attorney We maintain assigned topics and areas Shayne – Natural Resources Rebecca – Health Care related legal matters Caitlin – Taxation

#TheStruggleIsReal Issues we’ve run into Misunderstanding of attorney-client privilege Defining attorney-client privilege, who does it apply to? The Opposite: some individuals would like to know what other individuals are doing and are upset when we don’t provide them with the information. People who don’t like change Conflicts with non-ULD counsel Misunderstanding of conflicts of interest Politics My boss needs my permission to sue someone inside the Tribe Unable to provide representation with certain issues because they are in the best interest of the Tribe.

What about conflicts of interest? Because the Tribe is our client, we’re able to provide services to almost every area of the Tribe. Exception: The Election Board We’ve also segregated some duties so that departments and entities feel like they have some privacy. Shayne works with the Casino on non-contract matters Rebecca works with the Gaming Commission Caitlin works with the Casino on all contract matters

Goals going forward Tribal Member Defender Training employees and elected officials Best Practices Attorney-Client Privilege Record keeping

Questions? Contact Information UnifiedLegal@LRBOI-NSN.gov