Michael J. Anderson, Partner / Send Email

PRACTICE AREAS: tribal government; tribal sovereignty and self-determination; taxation; natural resources; reservation economic development; land-into-trust; legislative advocacy/lobbying; gaming law; finance; environmental and cultural preservation; employment; administrative negotiations; administrative procedures

TRIBAL AFFILIATION: Creek/Choctaw; Enrolled Member in the Muskogee (Creek) Nation

ADMISSIONS: Colorado State Bar; District of Columbia Bar

EDUCATION: Georgetown University Law Center (J. D., 1984); Lead Articles Editor, Law and Policy in International Business; Adjunct Faculty, American University, Washington, D.C. (2003, 2004)

POSTS OF HONOR: Deputy Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs, United States Department of the Interior, Presidential Appointee (March1995-January 2001); Associate Solicitor-Indian Affairs, United States Department of the Interior, Presidential Appointee (May 1993-March 1995)

PRIOR LEGAL EXPERIENCE: Executive Director, National Congress of American Indians (1991-1992); Associate Counsel and General Counsel, United States Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, Special Committee on Investigations, Chairman Dennis DeConcini, Vice Chairman John McCain; Private Practice, Colorado and Washington, D.C. (1984 -1990), Law Clerk, Native American Rights Fund, Washington, D.C. (Fall 1983); Tribal Planner, Muskogee Nation (1980); Women, Infant and Children's Program Counselor, Citizen Band Potawatomi Nation (Summer 1978)

Mr. Anderson has more than 22 years' experience as an attorney in private practice and as a senior policy advisor on matters affecting tribal governments including service at the Department of the Interior, the United States Senate, the National Congress of American Indians and the Muskogee (Creek) Nation.

As Deputy Assistant Secretary, Mr. Anderson provided policy advice to the Secretary of the Interior, Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. He served as the coordinator of the White House Working Group on American Indians and Alaska Natives, chaired the Y2K Tribal Outreach work group, co-chaired the Interior Self-Governance Negotiated Rulemaking Committee, and co-chaired the Joint Interior Department and the Health and Human Services Department Self-Determination Negotiated Rulemaking Committee. At the Department of Interior, Mr. Anderson testified over 30 times before committees of the Senate and House. In addition, he chaired tribal/state negotiations under the Interior Department's alternative gaming compact process in Florida and Nebraska. Mr. Anderson also reviewed and approved self-governance compacts, tribal/state gaming compacts and off-reservation gaming requests, reviewed tribal petitions for recognition and Bureau of Indian Affairs proposed regulations.

As Associate Solicitor for the Interior Division of Indian Affairs, Mr. Anderson prepared litigation requests to the Department of Justice and coordinated litigation matters with the National Indian Gaming Commission. He also provided legal advice reaffirming the sovereign status of Alaska Native governments, supported treaty fishing rights litigation in Minnesota and Washington, and negotiated amendments to the Tribal Self Governance Act and the Indian Self Determination Act.

At the National Congress of American Indians, Executive Director Anderson worked to bring NCAI out of debt for the first time in a decade and co-founded the NCAI-NIGA Gaming Task Force.

In private practice, Mr. Anderson served as a litigation associate at Calkins, Kramer, Grimshaw and Harring; Reed, Smith, Shaw and McClay and McKenna and Cuneo. In 1988, Mr. Anderson served as pro bono Counsel in Prows v. United States Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Prisons (D.D.C., 1988), where on behalf of his client he successfully challenged federal Bureau of Prison wage rules.