Hot commodities: Tax, tribal law attorneys among most-desired legal specialties | The Jou... Page 1 of 2 Hot commodities: Tax, tribal law attorneys among most-desired legal specialties By: Molly M. Fleming The Journal Record April 29, 2015 0 OKLAHOMA CITY – When Will Hoch has to fill a position at Crowe & Dunlevy law firm, he can easily find an attorney with experience in the oil and gas industry, he said. Yet other specializations aren’t as simple to fill, he said. Oklahoma City University School of Law student Keenan Haught, right, assists Zelda Cline through the school’s American Indian Wills Program. (Photo by Brent Fuchs) “I think right now, specialization in Native American issues, gaming, tribal law – I think that seems to be a pretty hot commodity,” he said. He listed health care and bankruptcy as other topics where it can be hard to find an attorney. At the Oklahoma City University School of Law, the American Indian Law and Sovereignty Center is educating attorneys to help those addressing tribal issues. Director Casey Ross said the center has seen an increase in the overall American Indian law interest, though some come to the field secondhand. “We get a lot of new students that aren’t necessarily interested in Indian law but want to get some exposure,” she said. “They come and get some practical experience, and then they turn into students practicing Indian law.” Hoch said that kind of training makes recruits more attractive to his firm. “What I look for is someone that has specialized knowledge, and then when I interview them, we make sure they are adaptable to change – legal trends change, clients change,” he said. “You have to be very flexible and willing to adapt.” Yet the need for Native American affairs attorneys isn’t expected to shift anytime soon, Ross said. She said the center often gets requests from individual tribes to develop programming for specific needs in their area, and even from Indian law practitioners who are looking to add to their firms. She said the law school has a plan to add programming and staff to help meet the field’s future demands. “There’s just not enough training in the legal community at large to fill the needs in Indian Country,” she said. Attorneys who have been practicing for years won’t always be available for insight. At GableGotwals in Tulsa, attorney Dean Luthey has practiced tribal law for more than 30 years. Former recruiting committee chairman John Dale said the firm has started bringing in younger attorneys to create a succession plan for when Luthey leaves. “I think it’s going to be a practice area that’s going to grow,” he said, adding that as tribes gain funds from casinos, they are taking that money into other industries. The challenge with hiring Native American attorneys often is that the tribes recruit them directly, he said. That’s not where he has seen the biggest vacancy in the Oklahoma legal industry, however. “The hardest to recruit is tax,” he said. “If you look at all our peers, the firms in Oklahoma probably have the same issue. The senior partners with the experience are aging out of the industry, then there’s a big hole (in the descendant line). Trust me, we’ve been looking.” He said people with tax law knowledge often go to larger markets where they will have sexier tax work, dealing with issues such as corporate taxes and estate planning. Also, bigger markets have larger paychecks. In Oklahoma City, Phillips Murrah recruiting head Juston R. Givens said the biggest specialty in which they have trouble hiring is corporate mergers and securities. But diversity in knowledge is important to his firm as well. http://journalrecord.com/2015/04/29/hot-commodities-tax-tribal-law-attorneys-among-mos... 4/30/2015 Hot commodities: Tax, tribal law attorneys among most-desired legal specialties | The Jou... Page 2 of 2 “It helps the legal industry any time you can add diverse backgrounds and communities,” he said. Tagged with: AMERICAN INDIAN LAW AND SOVERIEGNTY CENTER CASEY ROSS CROWE & DUNLEVY MOLLY M. FLEMING WILL HOCH RELATED ARTICLES Court: Judges can review EEOC efforts to settle job bias April 29, 2015 Elevated calling: Volunteers maintain American Airlines’ last functional DC-3 April 29, 2015 Deportation of immigrants continues to decline under Obama April 29, 2015 Copyright © 2015 The Journal Record | 101 N. Robinson Ave, Ste. 101, Oklahoma City, OK 73102 | (405)235-3100 http://journalrecord.com/2015/04/29/hot-commodities-tax-tribal-law-attorneys-among-mos... 4/30/2015