John T. Plata

John Tabinaca Plata has served as General Counsel for the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians (ACBCI) since 2014. Prior to joining the ACBCI team, John was a partner in the Washington, D.C., office of Hobbs Straus Dean & Walker, LLP. Before joining Hobbs, John also served as Director of Legal Affairs for the Comanche Nation of Oklahoma in Lawton, Oklahoma.

His primary practice areas include litigation, tribal gaming, tribal government development, tribal business structuring, taxation, and leasing of tribal lands. Throughout his career, John has represented numerous Tribes before various federal courts and agencies in matters regarding disaster relief, tribal-state compact negotiation, internet gaming, intra-tribal disputes, federal contracting, and sacred site protection. John has devoted his career to defending tribal sovereignty and empowering tribal government.

John is an enrolled tribal member of the Comanche Nation of Oklahoma and a direct descendant of Comanche Chief Tabinanica, who was a signer of the 1865 Little Arkansas Treaty between the United States and the Comanche.

Mr. Plata holds a Bachelor of Business Administration with a Finance specialization from Texas Wesleyan University, and a Juris Doctor degree from the Texas Wesleyan University School of Law. He is licensed to practice law in Texas, Oklahoma, the District of Columbia, and California. John is also licensed to practice before various federal district courts, Courts of Appeal for the D.C., Second, Fifth, Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth Circuits, as well as the Supreme Court of the United States.

A native Texan, John now resides in Rancho Mirage, California, with his wife and their dog Archie. They have two adult children who also live and work in southern California.