Chris Stearns, Navajo, sought a career in Indian law as a way to help protect the rights of Native Americans and advance the cause of justice in America. His practice focuses on the areas of labor relations, energy, campaign and elections law, political advocacy, self-governance, and government relations.
At the beginning of his career in 1989, Chris joined Hobbs Straus. He then left in 1994 to work on Capitol Hill for the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Natural Resources. There, he served as Democratic counsel overseeing national legislation on tribal self-governance, health care, federal recognition, gaming, and Indian child welfare. He later worked as director of Indian affairs for the Department of Energy in the Clinton administration. He returned to Hobbs Straus as of counsel in 2001.
Chris works on economic initiatives including a national intertribal energy consortium and a national intertribal investment firm. He helped establish Native Vote Washington, a nonpartisan, nonprofit corporation whose purpose is to increase and monitor Native American voting in the 2008 elections and beyond, while recruiting more Native candidates to run for office. He worked with some of the most influential people in Washington, D.C., and served as the senior political advisor to Tex G. Hall, former president of the National Congress of American Indians.
In 2000, Chris served as the North Dakota state campaign director for Al Gore’s presidential bid. He was the first-ever Native American appointed to such a senior position within a presidential campaign. He also worked on Bill Richardson’s successful 2002 campaign for governor of New Mexico. Chris worked for Senator John Kerry’s presidential campaign in the battleground state of New Mexico in 2004. He also served on the board of directors of the Clinton-Gore Alumni Association, an organization consisting of former political appointees from the Clinton administration. Chris was recently appointed as a Commissioner on the Seattle Human Rights Commission.
Along with Dean B. Suagee, Chris co-authored the article, “Indigenous Self-Government, Environmental Protection and the Consent of the Governed,” for the Colorado Journal of International Environmental Law and Policy 59 (1994). Chris is a writer for a leading Native American newspaper, and has written articles on Native American politics, voting, and social issues. He is an avid lacrosse player and fan.
Professional Organizations
Board of Directors, Native Vote Washington
Commissioner, Seattle Human Rights Commission
Board of Directors, National Organization of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome
National Co-chairman, Indian Youth 2001 Teen Awareness Campaign
Board of Directors, Clinton-Gore Alumni Association
Board of Directors, National Native American Bar Association
Education
Cornell Law School, J.D., 1989
Williams College, B.A. (with honors), 1986
The Lawrenceville School, 1982
Bar Admission
District of Columbia |
