TRIBAL

Verne Goodsell

Rapid City, SD

Mention a 45.5 million-dollar verdict, million-dollar settlements, professional and community awards and positions, and Verne Goodsell’s name will readily register. Concentrating on Insurance Bad Faith, Personal Injury, Birth Trauma, and Medical Malpractice, Verne has a wealth of experience and expertise which has resulted in significant verdicts and settlements. If you need representation to assist with a catastrophic problem and want the playing field leveled, Verne is prepared to do the job.

Gary M. Hazelton

Bemidji, MN

I was born in Jamestown, North Dakota, where my dad grew up. We moved to a suburb of Minneapolis in 1962 when I was 5. My dad was a blue-collar tradesman who could do anything from build large commercial buildings to fine furniture to rebuild engines. So I grew up around that stuff. We bought a fishing resort in the fall of 1972 and moved to Northern Minnesota. Hard work and long days in season but we met so many people from the 5-state area who stayed at the resort and became long-term friends. I graduated from Bemidji High School in 1976 and went to college only to play football. No plan for what I wanted to do. A fellow defensive back told me to go into Industrial Education because "you get to work on all the machines" - so that is what I did. The student teaching experience left me second guessing a teaching career. Got married in 1979 after playing in the homecoming game. My wife was headed into teaching. An uncle, who was a lawyer, was back to my parent's resort and after discussing my lack of desire to teach he told me to go to law school and he would give me a job. So, by mere happenstance I went to law school, graduating from the University of North Dakota School of Law in 1985. My wife Diane and I raised our 4 children in the Bemidji area. Diane retired from teaching about 6 years ago and spends much time with our 6 grandchildren. We have just completed a new home on a lovely chain of lakes and love lake living. In October 2000 I attended Gerry Spence's Trial Lawyers College (famed Wyoming trial attorney), am past president of the Minnesota Association of Justice and frequent presenter on and have written extensively on all aspects of trial skills. For about 10 years I have studied significantly in the field of neuro-linguistics and neuro-semantics and breaking down every aspect of trial practice from presence to story structure to semantic use of space in the courtroom. My practice is limited to personal injury with much emphasis on product liability. I am licensed in Minnesota, North Dakota, Alaska, Red Lake Nation and Leech Lake tribal courts. The relationship you form with your lawyer is the difference that makes a difference. The insurance adjusters sense the difference, and the jurors see the difference. When we know your story we can tell your story in a way that the felt sense is that of a lived experience. That is what it motivates the adjuster or jurors to act make it right. That is true justice.

Gabriel S. Galanda

Seattle, WA

Gabe is an Indigenous rights attorney and the managing lawyer at Galanda Broadman. His practice focuses on complex, multi-party litigation and crisis management, representing Indigenous nations, businesses and citizens. He has been named to Best Lawyers in America in the fields of Native American Law and Gaming Law from 2007 to 2026, and dubbed a Super Lawyer by his peers from 2013 to 2025. Gabe is skilled at defending Indigenous nations and business against legal attack by governmental or private parties, as well advocating for the human rights of Indigenous American citizens. He advocates against tribal disenrollment and citizenship rights violations, as well as other domestic Indigenous human rights abuse, including law enforcement violence. He also assists Indigenous clients with transactions and strategy related to various economic diversification initiatives. The American Bar Association awarded Gabe the Spirit of Excellence Award in 2022 and named him a Difference Maker in 2012. The Washington State Bar Association honored him with the Excellence in Diversity Award for his "significant contribution to diversity in the legal profession" in 2014. For his staunch disenrollment advocacy, the University Arizona College of Law awarded him the Professional Achievement Award, and Western Washington University named him a Distinguished Alumnus, in 2018. The University Arizona College of Law also named Gabe its 2022-23 Alumnus of the Year. Indian Country Today honored Gabe as one of “five people are rocking the world with their forward thinking, innovation and commitment to social justice” in 2013, and as one of "Fifty Faces of Indian Country" in 2017. In 2009, the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development honored him as Native American 40 Under 40. He has also received the Native Justice Award from the Northwest Indian Bar Association. Gabe writes frequently about Tribal Treaty and sovereignty rights and Indigenous human rights issues, having been published over 100 times in such other national periodicals as National Law Journal, Business Law Today, and Gaming Law Review & Economics. Most notably, he co-authored a law review article titled, “Curing the Tribal Disenrollment Epidemic: In Search of a Remedy,” which published by Arizona Law Review in 2015. He also often lectures about Indigenous human rights issues at universities and law schools, having talked at Harvard University and Yale, Cornell, Berkeley, Arizona, and Kansas law schools. Since 2023, Gabe has published a series of scholarly essays about existential challenges facing Indigenous peoples: In the Spirit of Vine Deloria, Jr.: Indigenous Kinship Renewal and Relational Sovereignty; The Federal Indian Blood Quantum Fiction; Durability and Duress: Inter-Tribal Kinship and Indian Gaming Capitalism; Into The Void: Indigenous American Civil Rights; The Original Peoples Deserve Freedom. His anti-disenrollment advocacy and scholarship have been included in several books, including David and Shelly Wilkinses’ “Dismembered” (2017); David Treuer’s “The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee” (2019); Carrie Schuettpelz’s “The Indian Card” (2024); and Dina Gilio-Whitaker's "Who Gets to Be Indian?” and Joseph Lee’s “Nothing More of this Land” (2025). Gabe is a frequent media commentator as well, having been interviewed and quoted by mainstream and international news outlets such as The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The Guardian, and Le Monde. In his "spare" time, Gabe founded and now operates Huy, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to enhancing religious, cultural and other rehabilitative opportunities for Indigenous prisoners. Serving as Chairman of the Huy Board of Advisors, he has lead the organization’s amicus curiae efforts before the U.S. Supreme Court and federal and state appellate courts across the country as well as the group’s human rights advocacy efforts before the United Nations. Gabe belongs to the Round Valley Indian Tribes of California, descending from the Nomlaki and Concow Peoples.

Ryan J. Stevens

Flagstaff, AZ

Ryan J. Stevens is a member and owner of Griffen & Stevens Law Firm, PLLC. A former felony prosecutor, he dedicates his practice to criminal defense, personal injury, sports law, and expert trial work in Arizona state and federal courts. He is recognized by U.S. News - Best Lawyers® and has achieved numerous successful results in jury trials, including first-degree murder cases and significant personal injury settlements.

James T. Towne, Jr. is a Principal Partner with over 40 years of experience in commercial litigation, corporate and commercial law, personal injury, estate litigation, real estate, Native American law, professional malpractice, equine and gaming law, employment issues, zoning, planning, and tax certiorari matters. He also provides ethics counsel and assistance with technology issues. He has been recognized as a Super Lawyer for 17 consecutive years and is a member of the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum. He is dedicated to community service, serving on various boards and founding educational initiatives.

Cory R. Laird

Missoula, MT

Managing Partner & Attorney, Cory R. Laird is an experienced trial attorney whose work is recognized at a statewide and regional level. Cory is adept in handling a wide array of complex litigation matters and has represented businesses and individuals in wrongful death actions, multi-million-dollar real estate development cases, civil rights actions, professional negligence cases, complex tort litigation, construction litigation, and many other types of disputes.