Gabe Galanda, Shelby Stoner Again Ranked Among Best Lawyers in America

Gabe Galanda and Shelby Stoner’s peers have named them both to the prestigious Best Lawyers in America list for 2026.

Gabe has been honored among the Best Lawyers in America® in Native American and gaming law for the twentieth consecutive year. He has also been dubbed a Super Lawyer by his peers from 2013 to 2025. He is the managing lawyer at Galanda Broadman.

For the second consecutive year, Shelby has been named “One to Watch” by Best Lawyers in America in the fields of environmental and labor and employment litigation. She was also named a Rising Star by by Super Lawyers® magazine in 2024 and 2025. She is Of Counsel at Galanda Broadman.

Former Army JAG Lawyer Jessica Ditmore Joins Galanda Broadman

Jessica Ditmore has joined Galanda Broadman PLLC as an Associate, focusing on litigation involving Tribal governments and enterprises.

Jessica joins the firm after serving on active duty for nearly five years in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General (JAG) Corps. As a JAG officer, she was an Administrative and National Security Law Attorney for the 1st Cavalry Division, and later a Prosecutor for the 82nd Airborne Division. She still serves in the U.S. Army Reserves. 

“We are ecstatic to have somebody of the caliber and strength as Jessica join our firm,” said Gabe Galanda, the firm’s managing lawyer. “She will serve and defend our Tribal clients well.”

Prior to the military, Jessica worked as a legal fellow and prosecutor for the San Carlos Apache Tribe.

Jessica graduated from the University of Arizona Law School in 2019, where she received a certificate in Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy and served on the Arizona Journal of Environmental Law & Policy. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Healthcare Policy from Mount Saint Mary’s University.

Jessica is licensed to practice law in the state of New Mexico.

Galanda Broadman PLLC is an Indigenous rights law firm with offices in Seattle and Yakima, Washington and Bend, Oregon.

Three Galanda Broadman Indigenous Rights Lawyers Again Honored by Super Lawyers

Indigenous rights lawyers Gabe Galanda (Round Valley), Amber Penn-Roco (Chehalis), and Shelby Stoner were once again honored by Super Lawyers magazine for 2025.

Gabe was again named a “Super Lawyer” and Amber and Shelby were each named “Rising Stars,” all in the field of Native American Law.

Gabe’s practice focuses on complex, multi-party litigation and crisis management, representing Indigenous nations, businesses and citizens. He has now been named a Super Lawyer for each of the last twelve years.

Amber’s practice focuses on Tribal sovereignty issues, including environmental issues, economic development, and complex Indian Country litigation. She has been named a Rising Star in each of the last several years.

Shelby’s practice focuses on high-impact cases involving Tribal law, Indigenous rights and other civil rights matters, land and environmental issues, and appellate litigation. She was named a Rising Star in 2024 and 2025.

With nine lawyers and offices in Seattle and Yakima, Washington and Bend, Oregon, the firm is dedicated to advancing and protecting Indigenous rights.

Gabe Galanda Mentioned in New York Times

Gabe Galanda mentioned by Harvard scholar Philip Deloria in the New York Times Book Review. He is profiled in regard to Tribal disenrollment in Joseph Lee's new book, “Nothing More of This Land."

The passage:

“Lee recruits experts to make sense of it all, and the book features compelling profiles of Indigenous leaders and intellectuals: the Anishinaabe legal scholar Matthew Fletcher, who complicates Lee’s idea of tribal sovereignty; the Yup’ik activist Sophie Swope, who walks him through Alaska’s complex multi-jurisdictional governance system; the Round Valley lawyer Gabe Galanda, who educates him on tribal disenrollment. Speaking to people like Galanda, Lee sees how casino revenue can distort Native identities, with some tribal governments expelling members to claim larger pieces of the pie.”

Gabe Galanda is an Indigenous rights attorney and the managing lawyer at Galanda Broadman. He has been named to Best Lawyers in America in the fields of Native American Law and Gaming Law from 2007 to 2025, and dubbed a Super Lawyer by his peers from 2013 to 2025.

Washington State Supreme Court Holds Historic Indigenous Human Rights Symposium

On June 11, 2025, the Washington State Supreme Court’s Minority and Justice Commission hosted a nine-hour Symposium regarding Indigenous human rights, with a focus on federal Indian boarding schools.

The Symposium was titled , “TÁĆELŚW̱ SIÁM: A Call to Justice for Indigenous Peoples.”

The day included a showing of the Oscar-nominated documentary Sugarcane, which chronicles the atrocities associated with Canadian residential boarding schools. The nine Justices watched the movie while seated on the bench in the State Temple of Justice.

Justice Raquel Montoya-Lewis (Isleta/Laguna) introduced the movie through a very personal 45-minute presentation about her own family and people’s boarding school experience.

The afternoon was dedicated to “State Issues Recognizing Indigenous Humanity,” involving presentations regarding Indigenous historical trauma vis-a-vis juvenile incarceration, Indigenous gender-based violence protection, and Indian child welfare restoration. Each of the presentations discussed the correlation between those Indigenous human rights issues and federal indian boarding schools.

Afterwards, her colleague, Justice Salvador Mungia, took to LinkedIn to express his gratitude to Justice Montoya-Lewis as well as the “heartbreaking, gut-wrenching…effect the symposium had on [him].”

Of significance, three formerly or currently incarcarated Indigenous men shared powerful testimonials with the Justices about their walks to state prison, and their work to rehabilitate themselves and seek redemption and forgiveness from those who they have harmed. It is believed to be the first time incarcerated people have directly addressed the Supreme Court from within the Temple of Justice.

The Supreme Court and Commission convened the Symposium in response to a 2024 Resolution of the Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians (ATNI) titled, “Rectifying the Dehumanization of Indigenous People in State Legal Systems.”

ATNI expressed concern about “the overrepresentation of Indigenous Americans in every stage of [Washington state] criminal and juvenile justice systems,” citing “the vestiges of colonization.”  ATNI called upon the Supreme Court to address “the historical and continued dehumanization of Indigenous people in Washington state.”

You can watch the entire day on TVW here. Photo albums are available here and here.

Chambers USA Again Recognizes Galanda Broadman's Excellence in Native American Law

Galanda Broadman, PLLC, has been recognized among the best Native American Law firms in the country by Chambers USA 2024. Gabe Galanda was also ranked among the nation’s best Native American Law practitioners.

The firm, with nine lawyers and offices in Seattle and Yakima, Washington and Bend, Oregon, represents Tribal governments, businesses, and citizens in critical litigation, business and regulatory matters, especially in matters of Treaty rights, sovereignty, taxation, civil rights, and belonging.

Galanda Broadman also represents Indigenous individuals in civil and human rights matters, especially in litigation against local, state, and federal police officers and jails for the loss of human life.

Galanda Broadman is honored to be ranked among the best Native American Law firms in the country and grateful to all of our Tribal and Indigenous clients for allowing us the opportunity to earn that recognition.

Shelby Stoner Explains Latest Federal Labor and Employment Laws in Indian Country

Shelby Stoner has published “Application of Federal Employment and Labor Laws in Indian Country” in the new edition of Indian Law Newsletter. An excerpt:

Do federal employment and labor laws apply to federally recognized Tribes operating on their own reservations? The answer to this question is convoluted. For many years, federal courts have grappled with whether federal employment and labor laws apply in Indian country. And even when courts have spoken on the subject, their conclusions that certain federal laws apply on reservations rest on a shaky legal foundation that disregards Tribal sovereign immunity and longstanding Indian law canons, at least in the Ninth Circuit. As a result, Tribal governments are forced to guess whether their economic and governmental activities are subject to federal employment laws or not, and if so, which ones. This article summarizes the framework adopted by the Ninth Circuit to determine when federal employment statutes of general applicability apply to federally recognized Tribes. The article further seeks to clarify when Tribes should comply with federal employment laws under Ninth Circuit precedent. This will depend on the federal statute at issue, the type of business operated by the Tribe, any relevant treaties, and even the particular court hearing the case.

Shelby Stoner is Of Counsel with Galanda Broadman, where she leads the strategy and execution of complex, high-impact cases involving tribal law, Indigenous rights and other civil rights matters, labor and employment, land and environmental issues, and appellate litigation.

Gabe Galanda to Address Indian Country Lawyer Ethics at 50th Annual Federal Indian Law Conference

Gabe Galanda will present a paper titled “The Indian Country Lawyer Ethics Void” at the Federal Bar Association's 50th Annual Indian Law Conference next Tuesday in Albuquerque.

Galanda Broadman Celebrates 15 Years of Indigenous Rights Advocacy

On April 10, 2010, Gabe Galanda and Anthony Broadman formed Galanda Broadman, PLLC. They began the firm practicing out of a spare room in Gabe’s house in northeast Seattle, while Gabe’s wife was pregnant with his twin daughters and Anthony’s family was transitioning to Bend for the beginning of his wife’s medical career. Today, the firm has thirteen team members, with offices in Seattle, Yakima, and Bend, and Tribal and Indigenous clients throughout the American west. We are proud of 15 years of advocacy for Tribal nations, businesses, and citizens, and human and civil rights victims from all walks of life. We are grateful for our families’ support and our clients’ trust. Here’s to 15 more.

Galanda Broadman Trial Lawyers Obtain $25M Federal Jury Verdict for Javier Tapia

On Friday, Ryan Dreveskracht and Corinne Sebren obtained a $25 million verdict from a federal court jury in Seattle for Javier Tapia, who lost his lower leg while incarcerated in the Pierce County Jail in 2018.

The jury returned the $25 million verdict against NaphCare, a health care company based in Alabama that contracts with local governments in 49 states to provide medical care to incarcerated people, including those jailed by Pierce County. The verdict included $5 million to compensate Javier for the physical and emotional harm that NaphCare caused him as well as $20 million in punitive damages.

As OPB reported regarding the verdict:

Court records show that the jury agreed with Tapia’s three principle arguments: that NaphCare relied on nurses to work beyond their skillset to treat inmates, relied on corrections deputies to monitor inmates’ health, and didn’t communicate with staff about Tapia as his condition worsened.

Those patterns amounted to violating Tapia’s constitutional right to adequate health care, said attorney Corinne Sebren.

“Every inmate in that jail is NaphCare’s patient, and they were only responding when they were being dragged to respond,” Sebren said.

Prior to the trial, Pierce County settled Javier’s claims against the county for $1 million. Ryan and Corinne were supported at trial by Ed Budge of Budge & Heipt. NaphCare was defended by Perkins Coie.