Biography
Bar Admissions
Biography
Joanne Willis Newton established her own legal practice in 2005, after seven years with California Indian Legal Services. Before relocating to California from Ottawa, Canada in 1997 to complete her LL.M., she worked for several years as a consultant on matters of Aboriginal law in Canada, after articling with the Department of Justice Canada.
Joanne has served Tribes, tribal agencies and individuals on a broad range of Indian/Aboriginal law issues.
In Canada, she worked as a consultant to federal agencies, such as the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and the Department of Justice, on Aboriginal rights issues, including land rights, and hunting and treaty rights. In addition, she has provided, and continues to provide, legal services to a number of First Nations entities.
While at California Indian Legal Services, she assisted numerous Tribes on self-government matters, including: developing or revising tribal ordinances, regulations, resolutions, policies and procedures; providing ongoing counsel and advice on the day-to-day affairs of tribal government; and asserting and defending tribal jurisdiction. She has significant experience assisting Tribes in establishing tribal gaming agencies and providing ongoing advice and representation to such entities. She has also developed a state-wide reputation for her advocacy on Indian Child Welfare Act matters and was the lead attorney responsible for drafting and moving SB 678 forward through the California Legislature in 2005. (SB 678 led to the codification of the ICWA standards into California laws.)
She also devoted a significant amount of her time at California Indian Legal Services to assisting low-income individuals, providing legal advice and representation regarding Indian law issues (e.g., Indian Child Welfare Act proceedings, Indian wills and probate, religious freedoms, and Jay Treaty rights) and providing brief advice on gneral legal issues (e.g., consumer law, family law, wills, contracts, education rights, and probate guardianships).
Her litigation experience includes representing Tribes and Native Americans in state court proceedings, at both the trial and appellate levels, in juvenile dependency cases involving the Indian Child Welfare Act, guardianship and conservatorship proceedings in probate court, and general civil litigation. She has been a panel attorney with Appellate Defenders, Inc., since 2005, accepting appointments to represent parents and children in juvenile dependency appeals in the California Court of Appeal.
Joanne is also dedicated to community education and has provided trainings on a range of Indian law issues, including: the Indian Child Welfare Act and related state law, Public Law 280, gaming regulation, the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, tribal justice systems, tribal sovereignty and sovereign immunity. Her audiences have included tribal officials, employees of tribal, state and local governments, attorneys, judges, students and community members. She has been a trainer with San Diego State University's Academy for Professional Excellence's Tribal STAR program for over ten years.
Joanne has been married to her high-school sweetheart for over thirty years and resides in Escondido, California. She and her two daughters are citizens of the Cree Nation of Chisasibi, the United States and Canada. Her greatest joy in life is being a grandmother, and she also enjoys travel, hiking, reading, and gardening.
Education
Bar Admissions
Biography
- LL.M. (Comparative Law), University of San Diego, 1998, cum laude
- LL.B., University of Ottawa, 1992, cum laude
- B.A. (Psychology), University of Ottawa, 1989, magna cum laude
- B.Sc. (Biology), University of Ottawa, 1988, cum laude
Bar Admissions
Bar Admissions
Bar Admissions
- State Bar of California, 1999
- Quebec Bar, 1998
- Law Society of Upper Canada (Ontario), 1995 - inactive