Thursday, May 17, 2007

Patty Ferguson Bohnee Joins the ILP Faculty

Patty Ferguson Bohnee will join the ILP faculty and staff as the new Director of the Indian Legal Clinic.
Ms. Ferguson-Bohnee received her Bachelors degree with Honors in Native American Studies with an Emphasis in Policy and Law from Stanford University and her Juris Doctorate from Columbia University School of Law with a certificate in Foreign and Comparative Law. During law school, Ms. Ferguson-Bohnee served on the Editorial Board of the Columbia Human Rights Law Review, participated in the Human Rights Internship Program, and participated in the Mediation Clinic. After law school, Ms. Ferguson-Bohnee clerked for the Honorable Betty Binns Fletcher of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Ms. Ferguson-Bohnee was an Associate in the Indian Law and Tribal Relations Practice Group at the law firm of Sacks Tierney P.A.

Ferguson-Bohnee has substantial experience in federal and state tribal recognition matters and recently assisted four bayou tribes in obtaining recognition from the state of Louisiana. She has conducted historical research projects on Louisiana Indians and served as Fulbright Scholar to France, where she researched French colonial relations with Louisiana Indians in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

Ferguson-Bohnee has represented tribal clients in administrative, state, federal, and tribal courts, as well as before state, city, and county governing bodies. Ms. Ferguson-Bohnee recently proposed revisions to the Real Estate Disclosure Reports to include tribal provisions. Ms. Ferguson-Bohnee has extensive experience in voting rights and election law matters. Ferguson-Bohnee has assisted in complex voting rights litigation on behalf of tribes, and she has drafted state legislative and congressional testimony on behalf of tribal clients with respect to voting rights issues. In addition, Ms. Ferguson-Bohnee has assisted tribes and tribal entities in government relations, drafting appellate briefs, drafting grievance decisions, drafting codes and constitutions, and analyzing environmental compliance issues.

Ms. Ferguson-Bohnee is a member of the Pointe-au-Chien Indian Tribe.

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