Lecturer Bio
Robert O. Saunooke, Esq.
Mr. Saunooke is a graduate of Washington and Lee Law School and in his practice has
continued a long familial history of working with Native Americans and Tribal
Governments. For over 25 years he has worked with Tribal Governments throughout
Indian Country assisting them in enacting legislation, lobbying, defending and
prosecuting state and federal litigation for and on behalf of Native American Tribes,
business development in Indian Country, and assisting in the creation of court systems
and codifying Tribal laws.
Prior to becoming an attorney Mr. Saunooke was a member of the Brigham Young
University football team winning the national championship in 1984 and recipient of the
Shining Example of America Award for Acts of Heroism in saving the lives of eleven
children during the Freedom Festival. Mr. Saunooke is the immediate past president of
the National Native American Bar Association and was recently named as one of the top
100 attorneys of color and is an adjunct professor at Emory Law School teaching Federal
Indian law and policy.
Mr. Saunooke was also instrumental in exposing the use of steroids in Major League
baseball and represented Jose Canseco testifying before congress in 2005. Mr. Saunooke
serves as co-chair of the American Bar Associations Minority Judicial Clerkship program
as well as the Native American voice within various sections and committees of the ABA
including the sections of State and Local Government, Judicial Division, Lawyers
Conference and Minority Judicial Outreach programs. Recently Mr. Saunooke
co-authored an update to the ABA’s book on voting rights titled “America Votes. Challenges
to Modern Election Law and Voting Rights, 4th Edition focusing on the
disenfranchisement of Native Americans in the election process.
Mr. Saunooke is a citizen of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, has three children
and resides with his wife in Cherokee, NC.
