Lucy Braun started working with Kanji & Katzen as a contract attorney in 2009 and became Of-Counsel to the firm in 2012. Lucy may be contacted at lbraun@kanjikatzen.com.**
Education: Lucy graduated from Yale University in 1984, earning a B.A. degree magna cum laude in economics. In 1992, she received a J.D. cum laude from Harvard Law School.
Prior Experience: Lucy was previously an associate with Heller, Ehrman, White & McAuliffe in Palo Alto, California, where she practiced labor and employment law, working on matters involving discrimination, sexual harassment, breach of contract, wage and hour issues, employee privacy, and progressive discipline. She then worked as a contract attorney for the Michigan Court of Appeals in Lansing, Michigan, before joining Kanji & Katzen. In addition, Lucy has served as a Bar Examination Grader for the Michigan Board of Bar Examiners in Lansing, Michigan, since 2008 and has drafted Bar Examination contract-law questions for the Board since 2014.
Areas of Concentration: Lucy has worked on a wide variety of issues on behalf of tribes and tribal members, including tribal sovereignty and tribal jurisdiction; interpretation, application and revision of tribal laws; gaming; taxation; administrative law; land claim settlement acts; reservation status; environmental law; and treaty hunting and fishing rights.
Environmental Rights
- Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians v. Enbridge (United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, pending), representing a tribe seeking to eject a hazardous pipeline that is trespassing on treaty-protected reservation wetlands.
Gaming
- Seneca Nation v. State of New York (United States District Court for the Western District of New York and United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, 2019–2021), defending against State efforts to compel Nation exclusivity payments in violation of both the Nation-State gaming compact and the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.
- Seneca Nation v. State of New York (arbitration, 2013), resolving dispute over whether certain electronic games authorized by the State of New York violated the Nation’s compact exclusivity rights.
Tribal Sovereignty and Jurisdiction
- Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians Tribal Court v. Beck (Michigan Circuit Court, 2018), reversing a Michigan trial court’s denial of full faith and credit to a tribal court judgment.
- Kelsey v. Pope (United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, 2016), the first federal court decision to uphold tribal criminal jurisdiction over tribal members for off-reservation conduct.
Land Claims & Reservation Boundaries
- McGirt v. Oklahoma and Carpenter v. Murphy (United States Supreme Court) (amicus), successfully defending the legal validity of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation’s 1866 reservation boundaries.
Personal Interests: Lucy enjoys Argentine tango dancing, gourmet cooking and cake-baking, and running in all kinds of Michigan weather. She and her husband love to visit their three grown children scattered in fun places across the country.
Bar Memberships:
- Michigan State Bar
- California State Bar
- United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
- United States District Court for the Northern District of California
- United States Supreme Court
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