UNM
lobbied for Indian law on exam
New Mexico
recently became the first state in the nation to require federal
Indian law as a subject on its bar exam as a result of efforts
by UNM School of Law student Calvin Lee, Navajo, Professor of
Law Kip Bobroff and alumnus William Johnson, an Isleta Pueblo
attorney and tribal judge.
In December,
the men appeared before an advisory committee of the New Mexico
Supreme Court to ask that the subject be added. The court ordered
the change in February.
"Indian
law in New Mexico is becoming as important as state law to practitioners,
courts and citizens," says UNM School of Law Dean Robert
J. Desiderio. "We try to insert Indian law issues into
most subjects we teach and not just the courses marked Indian
law."
UNM was
the first law school to initiate efforts to increase the number
of American Indians and Alaskan Natives in the legal profession.
Students, with faculty supervision, frequently advise American
Indians and Indian institutions, says Bobroff, one of several
faculty who teaches Indian law courses, which have been offered
at UNM since the 1960s.
Indian
law permeates all legal areas in New Mexico, says Associate
Professor Christine Zuni Cruz, director of the UNM Southwest
Indian Law Clinic. "The direct impact is that more practitioners
and students who are going to practice in New Mexico will be
prepared for Indian law issues," Zuni Cruz says.