THE LEGAL TEAM
The lawyers bringing this suit are a coalition of legal services organizations and private law firms delivering pro bono services. This coalition includes three legal non-profits (the Native American Disability Law Center, Public Counsel, the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico) and two law firms (Munger, Tolles and Olson LLP and Sacks Tierney P.A.).
The Native American Disability Law Center is a non-profit organization whose mission is to help protect the legal rights of Native Americans with disabilities living in the Four Corners of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. Native Americans with disabilities face unique legal issues that require advocacy designed to enforce, strengthen and bring their legal rights into harmony with their communities. The Law Center strives to advocate with a generosity of spirit to ensure that Native Americans with disabilities have access to justice and are empowered and equal members of their communities and nations. The Law Center accomplishes its work by collaborating with tribal nations to advance the rights of persons with disabilities, providing direct legal services to individual clients, providing training and education to individuals with disabilities and their families and communities, and by bringing impact litigation to protect and promote the rights of Native Americans with disabilities. The Law Center has offices in Farmington and Gallup, New Mexico. Learn more at www.nativedisabilitylaw.org.
Public Counsel is the nation’s largest pro bono law firm. Founded in 1970, Public Counsel strives to achieve three main goals: protect the legal rights of disadvantaged children; represent immigrants who have been the victims of torture, persecution, domestic violence, trafficking, and other crimes; and foster economic justice by providing individuals and institutions in underserved communities with access to quality legal representation. Through a pro bono model that leverages the talents and dedication of thousands of attorney and law student volunteers, along with an in-house staff of more than 75 attorneys and social workers, Public Counsel annually assists more than 30,000 families, children, immigrants, veterans, and nonprofit organizations and addresses systemic poverty and civil rights issues through impact litigation and policy advocacy. For more information, visit www.publiccounsel.org.
Stanford Youth and Education Law Project is an in-house legal and teaching clinic advocating on behalf of disadvantaged youth and their communities to ensure that they have access to equal and excellent educational opportunities. For more information, visit https://law.stanford.edu/youth-and-education-law-project/
Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP is a full-service law firm that has been known for over fifty years for trying bet-the-company cases and negotiating deals that shape our corporate landscape. Our nearly 200 lawyers represent clients in a broad range of complex and high-profile matters in the areas of corporate, litigation, real estate and financial restructuring. The firm’s lawyers include 14 former clerks for U.S. Supreme Court justices, 11 former federal prosecutors, four fellows in the American College of Trial Lawyers, and two former chairs of the American Bar Association Section of Litigation. Munger Tolles has been consistently ranked on The American Lawyer’s A-List since its inception in 2004, including four years in the top spot.
Sacks Tierney is a widely respected mid-size law firm, where clients enjoy personal attention, performance that exceeds expectations, and uncompromising commitment to professionalism and innovation. Since its founding in 1960, Sacks Tierney has distinguished itself by its skill, energy, integrity, community leadership, pro bono volunteerism, and pioneering expertise in legal areas of special value including Indian Law and Tribal Relations. It is through these values, strong relationships with Indian Nations and attorneys’ knowledge of pertinent federal laws that Sacks Tierney provides quality representation to Native American clients on tribal lands. Through its affiliation with MERITAS, a global network of law firms serving 230 markets, Sacks Tierney meets clients’ needs locally, tribally and internationally. For more information, visit www.sackstierney.com.
The American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico (ACLU-NM) has worked since 1962 to preserve and advance the civil rights and legal freedoms guaranteed by the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights. It is an affiliate of the national American Civil Liberties Union. ACLU-NM focuses on a host of civil and constitutional rights, including LGBT equality, freedom of speech, reproductive freedom, immigrants’ rights, privacy concerns, police abuses, fair treatment of prisoners, and more. It is the largest civil liberties organization in New Mexico with over 6,000 members, working in the courts, the legislature and our communities to protect the rights of all people living in New Mexico.