Phone: 207.253.0559 Fax: 207.772.3627 Email: ksmith@dwmlaw.com
84 Marginal Way, Suite 600 Portland, ME 04101-2480
Assistant: Jennifer Leonard Email: jleonard@dwmlaw.com
Kaighn “has an outstanding reputation. He is a nationally prominent practitioner
in [the field of Native American law].”
Chambers USA
Kaighn Smith Jr. has been fighting for Tribal Nations and their enterprises in the tribal, federal, and state courts and before federal administrative agencies across the country for over 30 years. He has garnered a national reputation for his committed advocacy for tribal sovereignty, winning cases in a wide range of areas, including jurisdiction disputes, gaming matters, labor and employment relations, and land-in-trust and environmental matters. He regularly teaches federal Indian law as an adjunct professor, publishes articles in peer-reviewed law journals, and speaks at national conferences.
Kaighn’s recent cases include representing the National Congress of American Indians and ten other inter-tribal organizations before the Supreme Court as amici curiae in Yellin v. Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation, to fight for the allocation of COVID-19 relief funds to tribal governments. He represented the Penobscot Nation for 12 years in protracted federal court litigation over the Nation’s reservation hunting and fishing rights in the Penobscot River.
Kaighn is particularly well-known for his advocacy of tribal sovereignty in the area of labor and employment regulation. He is the author of the leading treatise, Labor and Employment Law in Indian Country (2022), jointly published with the Native American Rights Fund, the new edition of which has just been released.
Kaighn is listed in national independent peer-based attorney guides, including Best Lawyers in America and Super Lawyers. Chambers USA has awarded Kaighn its highest national ranking for his Native American Law practice, listing him among the top practitioners (Band 1) in the United States.
Kaighn is an elected member of the American Law Institute, and from 2012 to 2021 served as Associate Reporter (with Professors Matthew Fletcher and Wenona Singel) in drafting the ALI’s recently approved Restatement of the Law of American Indians.
In 2021, Cornell Law School awarded Kaighn its Distinguished Practitioner in Residence Fellowship. While at Cornell, he designed and taught The Law and Colonization in Indian Country and supervised students on research and conference programming on Indigenous nations and climate change.
University of Maine School of Law, J.D., 1986
University of Sussex, M. Phil., with honors, 1983
University of California Berkeley, B.S., phi beta kappa, 1979
Hon. Frank M. Coffin, U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
Hon. Louis Scolnik, Maine Supreme Judicial Court
Best Lawyers USA, Native American Law 2008-2025
New England Super Lawyers, Native American Law, Employment & Labor 2011-2022
Chambers & Partners, USA Guide, Nationwide, Native American Law, Band 2
Martindale Hubbell, BV Distinguished
Books
Labor and Employment Law in Indian Country (Native American Rights Fund 2022)
Articles
When Congress Forgets: Breaking Through Congress’s Failure to Mention Indian Tribes in Federal Employment Laws, The Federal Lawyer (2021)
Nuances and Challenges of Protecting Tribal Sovereignty, in Inside the Minds: Best Practices for Protecting Natural Resources on Tribal Lands, Aspatore Books, Thompson Reuters (2016)
The Next Century of Federal Indian Law: A Moderator’s Perspective, The Federal Lawyer (April 2011)
Fighting for a Federal Forum in Indian Sovereignty Cases, The Federal Lawyer (2002)
American Law Institute, 2007-present
Maine Bar Foundation, 2005-present
Maine Bar Journal
Editorial Advisory Committee, 1989-2001/ Chief Editor, 1999-2001
Edward T. Ginoux Inns of Court
Senior Attorney, 1999-2001
Maine State Bar Association
University of Michigan School of Law, Legal Issues in Tribal Economic Development
Adjunct Professor
Cornell School of Law, The Law and Colonization in Indian Country
Distinguished Practitioner in Residence Fellow
University of Maine School of Law, American Indian Law
Adjunct Professor
National Ski Patrol, Sugarloaf Mountain; Stub Taylor, Pat Murphy Award (2008)
Alpine Patroller (1998-2010)
Portland Public Library Board of Trustees
Member (2003-2010)
Portland Public Library Executive Director Search Committee
Chair (2005)
From September 29, 2023 9:00 am
From March 7, 2023 8:00 am
NNAHRA and Drummond Woodsum have joined forces to provide Tribal Human Resources Professional (THRP) training to HR Professionals in Indian Country
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