Lauren van Schilfgaarde (Cochiti Pueblo) is Assistant Professor of Law at UCLA School of Law. Her research focuses on Tribal sovereignty and federal Indian law, including Tribal courts, taxation, criminal law, and reproductive justice. She was the Director of the Tribal Legal Development Clinic at UCLA Law for the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, where she supervised live-client projects. She received her undergraduate degree at Colorado College and her law degree from UCLA School of Law. van Schilfgaarde previously served as the Tribal Law Specialist at the Tribal Law and Policy Institute (TLPI). She currently serves as a board member for the Pukúu Cultural Community Services and the AALS Section on Indian Nations & Indigenous Peoples.
Presenting in the following sessions:
Nov 14, 2025
12:45-1:45 PM
Session 7A
1 MCLE
Ethical Challenges for In-House Counsel
This two-part session will explore the complex and often novel ethical challenges attorneys face when serving as in-house counsel to Tribal governments, with particular attention to Tribal courts, many of which operate with lay judges and customary legal traditions. Roshanna Toya, Lauren van Schilfgaarde, and April Olson will first address key ethical obligations under the California Rules of Professional Conduct (CRPC), the State Bar Act, and relevant case law, ethics opinions, and the ABA Model Rules. In the second hour, they'll apply these rules in practice through a series of interactive, hypothetical scenarios.
Presenting in the following sessions:
Nov 14, 2025
2:15-3:15 PM
Session 7B
1 MCLE
Ethical Challenges for In-House Counsel
This two-part session will explore the complex and often novel ethical challenges attorneys face when serving as in-house counsel to Tribal governments, with particular attention to Tribal courts, many of which operate with lay judges and customary legal traditions. Roshanna Toya, Lauren van Schilfgaarde, and April Olson will first address key ethical obligations under the California Rules of Professional Conduct (CRPC), the State Bar Act, and relevant case law, ethics opinions, and the ABA Model Rules. In the second hour, they'll apply these rules in practice through a series of interactive, hypothetical scenarios.
