Current Employment Position(s)

Member

Lawyer Overview

Debora Juarez is a Member in Williams Kastner's Seattle office. With a unique and vast experience building relationships with Washington State's Indian tribes, Ms. Juarez concentrates her practice on providing legal and financial counsel to tribes in the areas of debt financing, corporate structure, economic development, natural resources, gaming, and tribal-state inter-local agreements, among others.

Ms. Juarez began her career as a King County Public Defender where she provided legal representation to indigent criminal defendants. This practice required extensive trial and appellate expertise in the areas of misdemeanor and felony crimes, including juvenile representation. Later, she joined Evergreen Legal Services, Native American Project, where she represented a majority of Washington's 29 tribes in such areas as treaty rights, natural resources, Indian Child Welfare, and economic development.

After serving as an appellate and trial Judge pro-tem, she was appointed a Judgeship to the King County Superior Court. Debora performed all duties as Judge, including presiding over both felony criminal and civil trials. Thereafter, she accepted the position of Executive Director of the Governor's Office of Indian Affairs, where she acted as lead policy and legal advisor under two gubernatorial administrations.

Ms. Juarez worked extensively with both state and tribal governments regarding economic diversity and initiated the Tribal Economic Vitality Initiative (TEVI). The TEVI project culminated in a historic (regionally and nationwide) tribal-state economic development study entitled The Tiller Report. The Report has undergone two printings and continues to serve as an important and powerful economic analysis regarding the tribes of Washington State and ongoing economic contributions to the state economy.

As such, she was offered the opportunity to create a Tribal Finance Group with a global investment firm. The Tribal Finance Group was a new undertaking for this major Wall Street firm and proved successful by providing tribes with first-rate financial advice and planning tailored to the needs of tribal governments and enterprises.

Ms. Juarez also provides legal skills to the corporate and investments communities that do business with tribes by providing an experienced, knowledgeable and stable platform to support successful tribal economic development. In 2009, Ms. Juarez was named to Super Lawyers by Washington Law & Politics magazine. She was also named one of the Top Lawyers of 2007 by Seattle Magazine, and in June 2007 she was honored with the Enduring Spirit Award by the Native Action Network for her lifetime achievements in bettering Native American communities.

Ms. Juarez is an enrolled member of the Blackfeet Nation and lives in Seattle with her two daughters Raven and Memphis.

Areas of Practice

• Indian Law & Gaming
• Tribal Sports & Entertainment Law
• Education Law
• Law, Legislative & Government Affairs
• Business & Real Estate Transactions

West Practice Categories

Banking & Finance Law, Business & Commercial Law, Education Law, Gaming Law, Native Peoples Law

Bar Admissions

• Washington, 1987
• U.S. District Court Western District of Washington
• U.S. Court of Appeals 9th Circuit

Professional Associations and Memberships

• Washington State Bar Association (Trustee, Indian Law Section)
• American Indian Bar Association
• Northwest Indian Bar Association (Founding Member, Vice-President)
• Washington State Hispanic Bar Association (Founding Board Member)
• United Indian All Tribes Foundation (Board Member)
• Alesek Institute, Native American Economic Development Corporation (Fellow)
• Seattle Indian Services Commission (Commissioner)

Classes and Seminars

• Economic Development: Diversifying the Tribes Assets, Northwest Indian Gaming Conference & Expo, Tacoma, Washington,
• Contracting with Gaming Tribes & Dealing with Tribal Gaming Agencies, Northwest Gaming Law Conference, Seattle, Washington
• Development on Tribal Lands, Real Estate Development Incentives, Seattle, Washington
• Tribal Financing In the New Millennium: Traditional Borrowing, Bond Issuance & Conduit Financing, WSBA Indian Law Section, 16th Annual Indian Law CLE: The Changing Dynamic of Indian Law in the Pacific Northwest
• Hot Topics in Indian Gaming, American Bar Association Business Law Section, 2004 Spring Meeting, Seattle, Washington

Offers Free Initial Consultation

Published Works

• Kinship Commerce: New Developments in Inter-Tribal Trade, Indian Country Today, December, 2008
• Don't Turn A Blind Eye to Theft in Indian Country, Indian Country Today, October, 2006
• Leveraging Tribal Sovereign Economic Advantages to Attract Private Investment in Indian Country, Indian Country Today, May, 2005

Address

Two Union Square
601 Union Street, Suite 4100
Seattle, WA 98101-2380

Phones

(206) 628-6781

Faxes

(206) 628-6611

Emails

Contact Us

Websites

http://www.williamskastner.com