Minnesota American Indian Bar Association elects officers, directors at annual meeting

 

MINNEAPOLIS -- Members of the Minnesota American Indian Bar Association re-elected George W. Soule, partner at Bowman and Brooke LLP in Minneapolis, as the president of the 15-year-old organization, and elected other officers and members to its board of directors at the Annual Meeting held at the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community’s Link Event Center on September 24.

 

·         George Soule, President.  George Soule is a trial attorney and founding partner of Bowman and Brooke LLP. For 11 years, Soule served on the Minnesota Commission on Judicial Selection and was Chair from 1999-2003. He is a member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe. Soule is a graduate of Harvard University Law School, magna cum laude, and Moorhead State University, summa cum laude.  

 

·         Jennifer Beck-Brown, Vice President.  Jennifer Beck-Brown, former recipient of the MAIBA scholarship, is a 2003 graduate of the William Mitchell College of Law. Beck-Brown is the Deputy Solicitor General for the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe. She also is a member of the Minnesota Army National Guard Staff Judge Advocate General. Her tribal affiliation is with the Turtle Mountain Band of Ojibwe.  

 

·         Sarah Wheelock, Secretary.  Sarah Wheelock practices with Faegre & Benson’s regulatory litigation group, focusing on Indian law and environmental law. She graduated from the University of Iowa, with distinction and honors, and the University of Iowa College of Law, with distinction. She is a member of the Meskwaki Nation (Sac & Fox Tribe of the Mississippi).

 

·         Sarah Oquist, Treasurer. Sarah Oquist is Senior Corporate Counsel at US Bank. Prior to joining US Bank, she was an attorney with the law firm of Faegre & Benson. Oquist is a graduate of Creighton University School of Law, cum laude and a Trustee of her alma matter, Lyon College. Oquist is a member of the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe.

 

Soule, Beck-Brown and Wheelock were also elected to the organization’s Board of Directors, along with the following members. 

 

·         Rjay Brunkow is the Wells Fargo Relationship Manager for the Midwest Region, where he works with Indian tribes and tribal entities. Brunkow is an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Chippewa Tribe. After earning his bachelor’s in business economics, magna cum laude, from South Dakota State University, Brunkow graduated cum laude from the University of Minnesota Law School. He was a 2003-2004 MAIBA scholarship recipient.

 

·         Lenor Scheffler is a partner at Best & Flanagan, LLP. She practices in the areas of Federal Indian Law, tribal financing, Indian gaming regulation, Tribal Taxation, Tribal Election Representation, Tribal Governance, and Securities Law. Scheffler is also the Chief Judge at Upper Sioux Community. She is a graduate of St. Olaf College and William Mitchell College of Law.

 

·         Jason Stark is a student at Hamline University School of Law and the recipient of a MAIBA scholarship. Jason is a former teacher and ICWA court monitor.  He presently is an intern at Faegre & Benson.  He is a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Ojibwe.         

 

·         Stacey Thunder is the legal counsel and a member of the Red Lake Ojibwe Nation. Her practice includes business, gaming, employment and Indian law, and is also the host of an upbeat, magazine-style television show called "Native Report." Before joining the Red Lake Nation, Thunder worked at the Mille Lacs Band Corporate Commission, Anishinabe Legal Services, and the Indian Child Welfare Law Center.  She is a graduate of Hamline University and William Mitchell College of Law.

 

MAIBA’s Board of Directors also includes the following individuals, who will serve for another year:

 

·         Susan Allen is a partner with Olson, Allen & Rasmussen LLC, which provides legal counsel to tribal governments and tribal instrumentalities. She is a member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe. Allen graduated from Augsburg College and the University of New Mexico School of Law and received an L.L.M. in Taxation from William Mitchell College of Law.

 

·         Robert Blaeser has been a Hennepin County District Judge since 1994 and is former Chief Judge of the Juvenile Division. Before his appointment, he worked in private practice focusing on civil litigation. Judge Blaeser is a member of the White Earth Band of Ojibwe. He graduated from Concordia College and the University of Minnesota Law School.

 

·         Leo I. Brisbois has been an attorney with the Minneapolis civil litigation firm of Stich, Angell, Kreidler & Dodge, P.A., since 1991. Brisbois has been Vice-President and Treasurer for MAIBA, and he currently represents MAIBA as a member of the Board of Directors for the Hennepin County Bar Association. His tribal affiliation is with the White Earth Band of Ojibwe.

 

·         Jill Kehaulani Powers Esch is a law clerk for the Honorable John McShane.  Esch, a Native Hawaiian, is currently the coordinator of MAIBA’s annual scholarship golf tournament and a 2003 recipient of the MAIBA Scholarship.

 

The Minnesota American Indian Bar Association (“MAIBA”) was founded in 1990 by American Indian attorneys in Minnesota. These lawyers practice in a variety of areas including administrative law, family law, corporate law, juvenile law, civil law, commercial law, construction law, contracts, criminal law, employment law, environmental law, federal Indian law and gaming law, in both the private and the public sectors, and serve as tribal judges both locally and nationally. MAIBA’s members also include non-Indian attorneys who practice or are interested in Indian law. 

 

It is the mission of the MAIBA to promote: “unity, cooperation, and the interchange of ideas among persons associated with Indian law; education of the public with regard to legal issues affecting Indian people; and justice and effective legal representation for all Indian people.”

 

Minnesota American Indian Bar Association

P.O. Box 3712, Minneapolis, MN 55403

www.maiba.org

 

Executive Officers:

 

George Soule, President

(612) 672-3251

gsoule@bowman-brooke.com

 

Jennifer Beck-Brown, V. Pres.

(320) 532-7829

jbrown@millelacsojibwe.nsn.us

 

Sarah Wheelock, Secretary

(612) 766-7000

swheelock@faegre.com

 

Sarah Oquist, Treasurer

(612) 303-7826

sarah.oquist@usbank.com

 

Board of Directors:

Susan L. Allen

Robert A. Blaeser

Leo Brisbois

Rjay Brunkow

Jill Kehaulani Powers Esch

Lenor Scheffler

Jason Stark

Stacey Thunder