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Joel West Williams

Titles

  • Adjunct Faculty

Biography

Joel West Williams is a citizen of the Cherokee Nation and has represented tribal nations, individual Indians, and Indian organizations in matters involving religious liberty, sacred places, voting rights, natural resources, administrative law, and constitutional law. He was a presidential appointee in the Biden-Harris Administration, where he served as Deputy Solicitor for Indian Affairs at the Department of the Interior.

He earned a B.A. in Psychology and Religious Studies from Naropa University; a J.D. from Widener University – Delaware Law School; and a LL.M. in Environmental Law summa cum laude from Vermont Law School. Prior to serving in the Biden-Harris Administration, he was an attorney with the Native American Rights Fund, where he led the Tribal Supreme Court Project, which focuses on the strategy and coordination of Indian law cases before the United States Supreme Court. His article on the Five Civilized Tribes’ treaty rights to water quality was published in the NYU Environmental Law Journal, and he is the editor of the Landmark Indian Law Cases and Labor and Employment Law in Indian Country.

Joel is the alternate federal commissioner on the Arkansas-Oklahoma Arkansas River Compact Commission and a past president of the National Native American Bar Association. He currently practices law in Washington, D.C.

Curriculum Vitae

Expertise

  • Native American Law

Departments

  • Center for Justice Reform
  • Online Learning Program

Courses Taught

  • Native Americans and the Law