Office of the Tribal Attorney:

John Corbett, Senior Attorney

Robert Bohrer, Tribal Prosecutor

Beorn Zepp, Paralegal

Loretti Vanzetti, Legal Secretary

Andrea McCovey, Probate Specialist

The Office of the Tribal Attorney provides support and acts as legal counsel to the Yurok Tribal Council. The OTA represents the Tribal Council and the Yurok Tribe as a governmental entity. It is this department's responsibility to give input to the Council in regard to Tribal business. Additionally, the OTA provides support and legal counsel to the various Tribal departments. At this time, due to limited resources, the OTA cannot provide legal assistance to individual Tribal members, however, upon approval from the Executive director, may provide referrals to outside legal counsel.

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JESSIE SHORT, ET AL v. THE UNITED STATES, ET AL

The Office of the Tribal Attorney, at the direction of the Yurok Tribal Council, is endeavoring to assist the United States Court of Federal Claims and the parties to the Jessie Short litigation to finally distribute all funds owed to Jessie Short plaintiffs and their heirs. A web page has been established to keep plaintiffs and their heirs informed of developments in the case and to assist the Probate Specialist in gathering information necessary to seeing the final payments distributed. If you believe that you may be a Jessie Short plaintiff or an heir to a Jessie Short plaintiff, please visit the Jessie Short web page here.

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Historical and Important Documents

The Office of the Tribal Attorney has begun an effort to gather documents of importance to Yurok Tribe and to make them available online here. In the linked archive you will find documents that relate to the legal, legislative, and cultural history of the Yurok Tribe as well as some brief discussion. This is an ongoing project and the OTA welcomes comments and suggestions for inclusion in the archive. Please visit the archive here.

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Note to Employees:

No legal services or advice will be given to any employee without prior approval. If an employee wishes to meet with one of the attorneys they will be required to obtain prior approval from the Executive Director. Without this prior approval no contact will be permitted. Each department or employee will be required to fill out a request form for each item to be submitted to the Office of the Tribal Attorney.

FORMS:

Legal Request Form (in fillable PDF)

Copyright Registration Form  (in PDF)

CONTRACT TEMPLATE-Independant Contractor Agreement 1-27-10 (in Word)

LINKS:

The Constitution of the Yurok Tribe

The Laws of the Yurok Tribe