New tribal court clerkship program launched

Program offers free and confidential law clerk assistance to tribal court judges

Posted June 16, 2004

(Portland, Ore.)—A new program at Lewis & Clark Law School offers help for tribal courts. The Tribal Court Clerkship Program offers free and confidential law clerk assistance to tribal judges.

“The vast majority of tribal judges do not have any legal research or opinion writing assistance,” said Robert J. Miller, associate professor of law. “This makes our job more difficult than the work that federal and state judges perform.”

Miller, who teaches Indian law classes, also serves as chief justice for the Court of Appeals for the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon. He is a citizen of the Eastern Shawnee tribe of Oklahoma. “This is a promising and mutually beneficial opportunity for tribal judges to gain needed assistance and for Lewis & Clark law students to gain valuable experience working with tribal judges on real life cases. Oregon state trial judges have successfully used our students through this type of program for years.”

Tribal judges who request clerk volunteers are matched with students. According to Miller, a handful of students have already expressed interest in the clerkships. There are approximately 20-30 tribal judges in Oregon alone.

“It’s a great partnership opportunity,” said Miller. Under the new program, the tribal judge will determine the scope of an assignment, ranging from answering a simple legal question in a written memo or by oral report to writing a first draft of the court’s opinion. The program is administered through the law school’s existing pro bono services program.

“Judges will have the opportunity to mentor law students through this process,” added Miller.

For information about the clerkship program, contact Amanda Villa, student pro bono coordinator at 503-768-6890 or probono@lclark.edu.

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For more information, please contact:
Tania Thompson
Senior Communications Officer
504-768-7961
taniat@lclark.edu