Cory Albright

Cory Albright joined Kanji & Katzen in 2003 as an associate and became a member of the firm in 2012.  Cory is the Directing Attorney of the Seattle office and may be contacted at calbright@kanjikatzen.com.**

Education: Cory graduated from Macalester College in 1994, earning his B.A. summa cum laude in Sociology.  In 2001 he received a J.D. with High Honors, Order of the Coif, from the University of Washington School of Law, where he was Executive Notes & Comments Editor of the Washington Law Review.

Awards and Honors: Cory is ranked nationally by Chambers USA as a Band 1 Indian law practitioner.

Prior Experience: Before joining the firm, Cory completed a two-year clerkship with the Honorable John C. Coughenour, Senior United States District Judge for the Western District of Washington.

Areas of Concentration: Cory advises and represents Indian Nation and Tribal Governments on a variety of issues critical to their sovereignty, including:

• Attempts by state and local governments to tax or regulate persons or activities in Indian Country, or to otherwise interfere with tribal economic development;
• Implementation and enforcement of treaty fishing, shellfishing, hunting, and gathering rights;
• Federal and state legislation and intergovernmental agreements upholding Tribal sovereignty and respecting the revenue-generating interests of Tribal Governments;
• Alleged waivers of Tribal sovereign immunity;
• Tribal regulatory and adjudicatory jurisdiction over non-Indians and on-Reservation activities, and proper respect for that jurisdiction by federal and state courts;
• Reservation status and boundary disputes and other jurisdictional disputes; and
• Economic development and natural resources protection, including application of federal and state environmental laws in Indian Country.

Cory has successfully litigated many of these issues on behalf of Tribes in federal court, including:

• Squaxin Island Tribe v. Stephens, 400 F. Supp. 2d 1250 (W.D. Wash. 2005) (invalidating state of Washington’s motor vehicle fuel taxes imposed on sales at Tribal fuel stations) and Automotive United Trades Organization v. Washington, 357 P.3d 615 (Wash. 2015) (affirming lawfulness of Tribal-state fuel tax compacts, which generate annually tens of millions of dollars of tax revenues for Tribes)
• Settlement of tax dispute between the Tulalip Tribes (and its political subdivision Quil Ceda Village) and the state of Washington and Snohomish County, through passage in 2020 of statewide tax-compacting legislation under which Tribes receive up to 60% of state sales tax, and 100% of business and occupation tax, on commercial transactions between non-Indians on trust lands and on Tribal or Tribal member fee lands on the Reservation.
• Wild Fish Conservancy v. National Park Service, 2013 WL 549756 (W.D. Wash. Feb. 12, 2013) (granting motion to dismiss Endangered Species Act claim against Lower Elwha Klallam Tribal officials), aff’d, 687 F. App’x 554 (9th Cir. 2017)
• Mitchell v. Seneca Nation of Indians, 2013 WL 1337299 (W.D.N.Y.  Mar. 29, 2013) (granting motion to dismiss petition for habeas corpus under Indian Civil Rights Act)
• LECG, LLC v. Seneca Nation of Indians, 518 F. Supp. 2d 274 (D.D.C. 2007) (ordering exhaustion of Tribal court remedies)
• Cayuga Indian Nation of N.Y. v. Gould, 930 N.E.2d 233 (N.Y. 2010) (adopting arguments of amicus curiae the Seneca Nation of Indians in state tobacco tax dispute)
• United States v. Washington, Subproceeding 89-3, 20 F. Supp. 3d 777, 20 F. Supp. 3d 899 (W.D. Wash.) (enjoining unlawful non-Indian commercial harvest of natural shellfish beds in multiple cases)

Personal Interests: Cory is an avid cyclist and loves exploring the mountains and rivers of Central Washington with his family.  He coached and served for many years on the Board of Seattle PONY Baseball and Softball, and also enjoys cooking and cider-making, a holdover from his decade of professional culinary experience.

Bar Memberships:

• Washington State
• United States Supreme Court
• United States Courts of Appeals for the Second, Seventh, Ninth, and District of Columbia Circuits
• United States District Courts for the Western District of Washington, Eastern District of Washington, District of Columbia, and Western District of New York

Publications:

• Emerging Jurisdictional Disputes Regarding State Taxation and Regulation of Indian Tobacco Economies, Emerging Issues in Tribal-State Relations (Aspatore 2011)
• Wake-Up Call: Using the Washington Shoreline Management Act to Protect the Shorelines of Puget Sound from High-Speed Vessel Wake Wash, 75 Wash. L. Rev. 519 (2000).

Cory is a frequent speaker at Indian Law conferences and CLE programs.

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