THOMAS W. FREDERICKS – Partner Louisville, Colorado phone: 303.673.9600 fax: 303.673.9155 email: email me

Mr. Fredericks joined the firm as a partner in 2007, merging his practice from the law firm which he founded in Colorado in 1979.

TRIBAL AFFILIATION: Member, Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation of the Fort Berthold Reservation, North Dakota.

PRACTICE AREAS: Water rights; land rights; utility development; oil and gas and other mineral development trust issues; casino and economic development; inter-governmental affairs; tribal sovereignty and self-determination; land-into-trust; tribal government; natural resources; energy and environmental law; business and corporate law; commercial transactions; housing; taxation.

ADMISSIONS: Colorado; North Dakota; Arapaho-Cheyenne Tribes of Oklahoma; Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation; U.S. Supreme Court; U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Eighth, Ninth, Tenth and the District of Columbia Circuits; U.S. Court of Federal Claims.

EDUCATION: University of Colorado School of Law (J.D., 1972); Minot State University (B.S., 1965).

LEGAL EXPERIENCE: Founding partner of a law firm which later became Fredericks, Pelcyger & Hester, LLC. (1979); Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, Department of the Interior; Associate Solicitor for Indian Affairs, Department of the Interior;; Director and Staff Attorney, Native American Rights Fund.

LEGAL AUTHORSHIP: Author of the First Solicitor's Opinion dealing with the issue of tribal gaming; formulated the Indian Water Settlement Policy as it relates to Indian Tribal Nations (including establishment of the Practicably Irrigable Acreage Standard); authored the first compact for IGRA (Indian Gaming Regulatory Act).

ASSOCIATIONS: American Bar Association; Colorado State Bar Association; North Dakota Bar Association; American Indian Bar Association; Federal Bar Association; former Instructor at University of Colorado at Denver.

Mr. Fredericks has special qualifications to serve Indian Tribes in the capacity of legal counsel. He has served tribal government in an administrative capacity, and therefore has a good understanding of the day-to-day problems that elected tribal officials must consider. As a staff attorney and later as Director of the Native American Rights Fund, Mr. Fredericks was in a position to be an integral part of the overall legal strategy during the decade of the 1970s when the courts decided so many major Indian legal issues. These experiences have given Mr. Fredericks considerable expertise in the legal and political relationships that tribes have with the state and federal governments.

Mr. Fredericks has also served as chief legal officer for Indian Affairs and later served as the primary policy official for Indian Affairs within the Department of the Interior. As Associate Solicitor, Mr. Fredericks was responsible for formulating the position of the United States with the lawyers from the Department of Justice in all Indian-related cases. He developed the policy of negotiating water settlements as opposed to protracted litigation. Mr. Fredericks also issued the legal opinion that assisted the Seminole Tribe in the Butterworth case that was a precursor to Indian Gaming. Later as Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, Mr. Fredericks was charged with formulating Indian policy for the Secretary, representing the Department in transactions with the United States Congress, and exercising Secretarial authority, direction, and supervision over the BIA and the Office of Indian Education employees. These experiences have given Mr. Fredericks insight into how the federal system views its relationship with Indian tribes and how the interests of the Indians are balanced with those of the nation and other groups.

Mr. Fredericks has gained special knowledge and expertise in Indian gaming. He negotiated the first gaming compact with the state of Nevada on behalf of the Fort Mojave Tribe. His representation of the Rincon, Fort Mojave, Crow and Kiowa Tribes, as well as non-tribal Indian gaming interests has given him valuable experience in dealing with the extremely complex legal issues that arise in the Indian gaming arena. His particular knowledge of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act and his experience in dealing with state and federal authorities in issues of Class II and Class III gaming make him an extremely effective advocate for gaming tribes and interests.

Mr. Fredericks has negotiated for tribes with the federal government concerning its trust responsibilities, as well as the responsibility of the BIA to provide technical assistance under P.L. 93-638 in management and finance. He has successfully litigated important Indian rights and resources cases. Among these are the water litigation in Arizona v. California, and the South Dakota water case, where he represented Crow Creek. Mr. Fredericks has been involved in extensive negotiations for tribes, such as representing the Crow Tribe in their complicated disputes with private, state, and federal agencies over water, coal, and disputed lands; negotiating for Crow coal, and oil and gas leases; assisting Hualapai uranium, and oil and gas developments; and helping with Fort Mojave agricultural and economic development. In addition, he has represented the Fort Mojave and Shoshone and Northern Arapaho Tribes before the Court of Claims in breach of trust claims involving trust resources.