Phil Katzen earned his A.B. from the University of California, Berkeley in 1970, and his J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley (Boalt Hall), in 1977. He then served as a staff attorney and Native American Project Director for Evergreen Legal Services (later Columbia Legal Services) in Washington State. During his tenure at Evergreen, Phil represented thirteen Indian tribes in United States v. Washington and other treaty rights cases. Proceedings in which Phil was lead counsel or played a major role have resulted in vindicating the tribes' treaty rights to take fifty percent of the shellfish found in treaty waters (including those found on privately owned tidelands), establishing the allocation rules governing tribal and non-Indian fisheries, limiting the non-Indian recreational fishery in order to protect tribal fishing rights, and enjoining construction of a major marina that otherwise would have proceeded without due regard for tribal fishing rights.

Today, Phil continues his involvement in United States v. Washington and other treaty rights cases and he continues to be coordinating counsel for the tribes in ongoing litigation over implementation of the tribes' shellfishing rights on privately owned property. Phil also represents and consults with tribes on matters related to tribal rights to fish, hunt and gather, and protection of natural resources and he is both a guest lecturer at law schools and universities and a speaker at continuing legal education seminars on those topics. Phil also represents tribes and tribal members challenging Washington State taxes, including in the recent past Squaxin Island Tribe v Stephens, a case that successfully enjoined State taxes of motor vehicle fuel sold from tribally owned gas stations. Phil is also involved with litigation in the District of Columbia District Court and Court of Appeals regarding hydropower licensing conditions imposed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on a public utility occupying Indian reservation land.

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