New legal fellowship prioritizes UCLA grads serving tribal communities

The San Manuel Band of Mission Indians has provided funding for a new legal fellowship that prioritizes UCLA School of Law graduates.

San Manuel awarded the $695,000 grant to the California Tribal Families Coalition – a nonprofit made up of California tribes with the mission to promote tribal children and families’ welfare – for the fellowship offered to recent law school graduates, said Kimberly Cluff, the CTFC legal director. Priority is given to UCLA students because of San Manuel’s preexisting relationship with the School of Law through its tribal legal development clinic, according to a press release from CTFC.

The fellowship, which focuses on Native child welfare, will also include student loan forgiveness, according to the press release, with applications due April 10.

“At San Manuel, we strongly believe that we all have an obligation to create pathways to a better tomorrow for Native youth and tribal communities by supporting new educational opportunities,” said Lynn Valbuena, the chairwoman of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, in the press release. “The San Manuel Tribal Advocacy Fellowship will assist students pursuing a future in Indian law.”

Fellows will work with a mentor child welfare attorney who will guide them through their start at CTFC, Cluff said. The goal of the fellowship is to increase the number of lawyers comfortable and qualified in representing tribes, who have court protections under the Indian Child Welfare Act, she added.

The fellowship comes at a pertinent time for tribes, said Lauren van Schilfgaarde, an assistant professor of law, particularly because the pending Supreme Court case Haaland v. Brackeen questions the constitutionality of the Indian Child Welfare Act.

“One of the elements of the Indian Child Welfare Act is that tribes have the right to be in court,” Cluff said. “And yet, there’s not that many lawyers who are experienced in representing tribes in their cases.”

Cluff added that CTFC aimed to support the opportunity for lawyers to work in marginalized communities with fair compensation, which she said is often hard to find.

“Many times when people are looking to work in underserved communities, they’re also being asked to take a pay cut to make less, and that’s not okay,” she said. “We need to value work in underserved communities.”

The School of Law also participates in tribal law through the clinic, which is non-litigation and instead focuses on policy development, Lauren van Schilfgaarde said. It is also funded by San Manuel, she added.

The clinic, which hosts about 20 law students per year, advises and helps tribal governments and organizations with different projects working towards nation-building, said Mica Llerandi, the director of the clinic. While the clinic works primarily with California tribes, its work also expands nationwide, Lauren van Schilfgaarde said.

Working at the clinic consists of taking a specialized course that allows for a hands-on experience that’s not found in most law courses, Llerandi said.

“They’re able to learn the historical trauma aspect. They’re able to learn the resiliency aspect of tribal governments,” Llerandi said. “They’re able to learn how … tribal governments continue to evolve and expand and grow their own governments.”

Lauren Van Schilfgaarde said it is important to have new lawyers working in tribal law to do work such as family law, environmental protection, jurisdiction work and repatriation of cultural resources. Fellows will have the chance to learn about all aspects of Native law while working on child welfare.

“As soon as those practitioners are exposed to Indian law, … that sense of foreignness dissipates, and there is an increased willingness to recognize the rule of law,” Lauren van Schilfgaarde said. “Having a sense of intentionality about engaging in this work and training future attorneys to advocate in this space just couldn’t be more important.”