Clinical Faculty
Jill E. Tompkins

This individual is no longer with the Law School.

Director, American Indian Law Program and Clinical Professor of Law, American Indian Law Clinic
Indian Law

University of Colorado Law School
105T Wolf Law Building
404 UCB
Boulder, CO  80309-0404
Phone: (303) 735-2194
E-mail: jill.tompkins@colorado.edu

Curriculum Vitae:  View (PDF format)

Educational Background:
J.D.   University of Maine School of Law   1989  
B.A.   The King's College   1985   magna cum laude

Bio:
Appointed December 1, 2001, Jill Tompkins brings a wealth of experience to the position of Director of the American Indian Law Program and Clinical Professor of the American Indian Law Clinic. A graduate of the University of Maine Law School, she is admitted to practice in the States of Maine, Connecticut, and Colorado, the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine and the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit, the U.S. Supreme Court and three tribal courts. She has more than twenty years of experience with federal Indian and tribal law garnered through her legal practice, service as a Chief Judge with the Mashantucket Pequot and Passamaquoddy Tribal Courts, and as Appellate Justice with the Mashantucket Pequot, Passamaquoddy, and Pokagon Band of Potawatomi courts of appeal. Professor Tompkins taught at the National Judicial College, and for several years successfully organized and taught in the annual National Tribal Judicial Conference sponsored by the National American Indian Court Judges Association. She was the first female President of the National American Indian Court Judges Association. She is widely recognized for her expertise in the application of the Federal Indian Child Welfare Act. Professor Tompkins comes to the Colorado Law School from the National Tribal Justice Resource Center, where she was the founding Executive Director.


Published Books

Tompkins (with Massey Mayo Case), A Guide for Tribal Court Law Clerks and Judges, (Univ. of Colo. Law School) (2007).

Other Publications

Walking in Two Worlds: Tribal Judicial Ethics, Tribal Customs and Traditions, in 22nd Ann. W. Regional Indian L. Symp. Materials (U. Wash. School of Law) (2009).
Video Presentation: Sovereignty Redefined: A Retrospective on the 1980 Maine Indian Land Claim Settlement, (Maine Dept. Educ.) (2009).

Book Chapters

Best Practices in Indian Child Welfare Act Practice: Working from the Inside Out, in 36th Ann. Fed. Bar Ass’n Indian L. Conference Materials (2011).
30 Years of Breathing: Emerging Issues under the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978, in 34th Ann. Fed. Bar Ass'n Indian L. Conf. Materials (2009).
Applicability of ICWA to Colorado Non-Parent Allocation of Parental Responsibilities Action, in Indian Family Law Continuing Legal Education Seminar Materials (North American Indian Legal Services) (2007).

Symposia and Invited

Finding the Indian Child Welfare Act in Unexpected Places: Applicability in Non-Parent Private Custody Actions, 81 U. Colo. L. Rev. 1119 (2010).

Courses:

Fall 2012 American Indian Law Clinic LAWS 7309-001
Spring 2012 American Indian Law Clinic LAWS 7309-801
Fall 2011 American Indian Law Clinic LAWS 7309-001
Spring 2011 American Indian Law Clinic LAWS 7309-801
Fall 2010 American Indian Law Clinic LAWS 7309-001
Spring 2010 American Indian Law Clinic LAWS 7309-801
Fall 2009 American Indian Law Clinic LAWS 7309-001
Spring 2009 American Indian Law Clinic LAWS 7309-801