Erica Costa is a descendant of the Round Valley Indian Tribes and the Sherwood Valley Rancheria Band of Pomo Indians. She is a senior associate at Berkey Williams LLP, a firm that represents exclusively Native American tribes and tribal organizations throughout the United States with its home office in Davis. Her interest in the intersection between law and Native American rights stems from her childhood growing up on the reservation and her family’s participation in tribal government and community improvement. Ms. Costa earned her B.A. degree from UC Davis and her J.D. degree from UCLA School of Law, where she received her specialization in Critical Race Studies with an emphasis on Native American rights. In law school she was the executive editor of the Indigenous People’s Journal of Law, Culture & Resistance and the vice president and recruitment coordinator of the Native American Law Students Association (NASLA). She formerly served as president of the California Indian Law Association, Inc., and currently serves on the Advisory Committee for the California Truth and Healing Fund, a fund established to support the engagement of California Native Americans in the work of the California Truth and Healing Council. Ms. Costa previously worked for the Tribal Law and Policy Institute, the Wishtoyo Foundation, and the Yurok Tribe’s Office of the Tribal Attorney. As a senior associate at Berkey Williams LLP, Ms. Costa serves tribal clients in many areas of the law, including water rights, natural and cultural resources protection, governmental affairs, litigation, and Indian child dependency.

For over 15 years, Mr. Fite has supported clients in the natural resource and energy sectors as they manage the complexities of environmental regulation, compliance, and permitting, as well as related litigation. He has significant experience helping clients navigate the legal intricacies required in renewable energy development, forestland management, and endangered species and public lands concerns. His clients include resource owners, developers, and associations who pursue responsible use of these resources. Mr. Fite is a seasoned litigator who has argued numerous cases in state and federal trial and appellate courts, including ten cases before the Ninth Circuit. He has also testified before Congress on matters concerning proposed reforms to resource management, the Endangered Species Act (ESA), and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Prior to joining Schwabe, Mr. Fite practiced at a boutique law firm that specializes in environmental, energy, and natural resource issues. He began his legal career at the U.S. Department of Justice working on endangered species and wildlife matters. Mr. Fite earned his B.A. degree, cum laude, from Harvard University and his J.D. degree from Harvard Law School.

Jeffrey Holth works closely with tribal governments and enterprises on a daily basis to resolve problems, mitigate risk, and advance tribal sovereignty in decision making. His practice is centered on providing tailored, accessible, and timely advice to clients on all areas of the law impacting tribes, including tribal governance, natural resources protection and management, land tenure, code development, cultural resource protection, jurisdiction, transactions, employment, and grant compliance. He also engages in a robust litigation practice, having secured several victories for tribal clients on matters involving sovereign immunity, application of federal laws, treaty rights, and tribal exhaustion. Mr. Holth prides himself on building long-lasting client relationships in Indian Country built on trust, mutual respect, and zealous advocacy. He earned his J.D. degree, summa cum laude, from William Mitchell College of Law.

Laura Matson practices in LGN’s environmental, political, business, antitrust, employment, mediation, government representation, and complex litigation practice groups, representing numerous public entities, businesses, tribal governments, and individual plaintiffs in complex litigation and transactional matters in state and federal court. Ms. Matson earned her J.D. degree, magna cum laude, from the University of Minnesota Law School. She also holds a PhD degree in Geography, Environment, and Society from the University of Minnesota and an MS degree in Development Studies from the University of London. Her PhD research focused on expansions of American Indian Tribal jurisdiction over resource policy and water regulation. While in law school she served as Lead Outside Articles Editor for Law & Inequality: A Journal of Theory and Practice and as a clinic director for the Human Rights Litigation and International Legal Advocacy Clinic. Ms. Matson currently serves as a council member for the Minnesota State Bar Association’s Environmental, Natural Resources and Energy Law Section. She has taught courses at the University of Minnesota Law School and College of Liberal Arts and has published in the areas of treaty law, environmental law, international law, and natural resource policy.

Doug Thompson is a tribal attorney focused on resolving complex real estate, natural resource management, and environmental matters. After a successful career working with The Nature Conservancy and working in private practice in New York and the lower Midwest, he received a Masters of Law in Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy from the University of Arizona and began a practice with a concentration in Federal Indian Law and tribal natural resource management. Mr. Thompson is sought after as a speaker and lecturer. Early in his career, he served as an adjunct faculty member at the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, and in recent years, he has routinely spoken and lectured on Federal Indian Law and tribal natural resource management at conferences and in the university setting. He uses his unique blend of experience to assist tribes in positioning themselves to achieve optimal outcomes in existing and developing natural resource management projects and partnerships. Mr. Thompson helps obtain funding for tribal natural resource enterprises, navigates regulatory challenges in Indian Country, and assists tribes in defending against activities that encroach upon tribal interests and rights. He also advises corporate clients who wish to understand and respect tribal rights, and who are committed to adhering to the highest standards of corporate social responsibility in their interactions with tribes. Mr. Thompson operates with the utmost level of integrity and is respectful, focused, and responsive in his representation of clients.

Sara Van Norman has been in private practice for 20 years, working almost exclusively in Indian Country. She handles diverse business, construction, environmental, and regulatory matters for tribes and people doing business with them. Ms. Van Norman also represents tribal governments in matters involving treaty rights, governance, elections, intergovernmental relations, and more. She has worked for and with over 50 federally recognized Indian tribes. In addition, Ms. Van Norman is a mediator and arbitrator, and a former tribal court judge for the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate in South Dakota.

Arielle Wagner practices primarily in LGN’s antitrust, generative AI, data breach, and tribal government representation groups, representing consumers, small businesses, and tribes in complex litigation throughout the United States. Her tribal government representation practice includes experience in the areas of federal Indian law, tribal sovereign immunity and environmental law and regulations. Ms. Wagner is the treasurer and past president of the Minnesota Native American Bar Association. She sits on the Foundation Board for the National Native American Bar Association and on the Executive Board of Twin Cities Diversity in Practice. She is from the Lake Vermilion Reservation in Tower, Minnesota. Ms. Wagner is an enrolled citizen of the Bois Forte Band of Lake Superior Chippewa.