Joanne Willis Newton established her own legal practice in 2005, after seven years with California Indian Legal Services. Before joining California Indian Legal Services, she worked for several years as a consultant on matters of Aboriginal law in Canada, after articling with the Department of Justice Canada.
Joanne has served Tribes, tribal agencies, and individuals on a broad range of Indian/Aboriginal law issues.
In Canada, she worked as a consultant to federal agencies, such as the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and the Department of Justice, on Aboriginal rights issues, including land rights, and hunting and treaty rights. In addition, she has provided legal research, analysis and writing services to a number of First Nations entities.
While at California Indian Legal Services, she assisted numerous Tribes on self-government matters, including: developing or revising tribal ordinances, regulations, resolutions, policies and procedures providing ongoing counsel and advice on the day-to-day affairs of tribal government and asserting or defending tribal jurisdiction. She has significant experience assisting Tribes in establishing Tribal Gaming Agencies and providing ongoing advice and representation to such agencies. She also developed a state-wide reputation for her advocacy on Indian Child Welfare Act matters, and was the lead attorney responsible for drafting and moving SB 678 forward through the California Senate Judiciary Committee in 2005.
She also devoted a significant portion of her time at California Indian Legal Services to assisting low-income individuals, providing advice and representation regarding Indian law issues (e.g., Indian Child Welfare Act proceedings, Indian wills and probate, religious freedoms, and Jay Treaty rights) and providing brief advice on general legal issues (e.g., consumer law, family law, wills, contracts, education rights, and probate guardianships).
Her litigation experience includes representing Tribes and Native Americans in state court proceedings, at both the trial and appellate levels, in juvenile dependency cases involving the Indian Child Welfare Act, guardianship and conservatorship petitions in probate court, and general civil litigation.
Joanne is also dedicated to community education and has provided trainings on a range of Indian law issues, including: the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA), Public Law 280, gaming regulation, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, tribal justice systems, tribal sovereignty, and sovereign immunity. Her audiences have included tribal officials, employees of tribal, state and local government, attorneys, judges, social workers, students, and community members.
Joanne has been married to her high school sweetheart for over thirty-six years and resides in Escondido, San Diego County, California. She and her two daughters are members of the Cree Nation of Chisasibi and citizens of both the United States and Canada.
