| 
Native
American Law
Business
Law
| J.D.,
cum laude, University of Minnesota Law School, 2004 |
| BSE, magna
cum laude, University of Wisconsin, Whitewater, 1995 |
|
Dennis S. Puzz, Jr.
612/341.9706
dpuzz@bestlaw.com
Dennis
S. Puzz, Jr., rejoined Best & Flanagan in February 2007 as an
attorney in the Native American Law Section. An enrolled member
of the Yurok Tribe, Puzz focuses his practice on representing tribal
governments in the areas of gaming, economic development, constitution,
ordinance and regulation drafting, and employment, and on serving
other clients in employment and business issues.
Before
joining Best & Flanagan in 2007, Puzz served the Yurok Tribe
in Klamath, California, as the tribe's Executive Director. There
he managed the 250-employee tribal government with an annual budget
of $12 million. His role with the tribe was to manage all Tribal
Council initiatives internally, represent them to outside entities,
and manage four outside law firm relationships regarding these projects.
Major initiatives Puzz worked on included a 47,000-acre land transaction;
re-negotiation of a gaming compact; the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission re-licensing process of four dams in the Klamath River;
negotiation of a landmark Cooperation Agreement between the Department
of the Interior (DOI) and the Yurok Tribe to create co-management
of the Klamath Basin; and advocating with DOI for the release of
the Yurok Trust fund to partially resolve issues created by the
Hoopa-Yurok Settlement Act of 1988. In early March 2007, this last
initiative came to favorable closure after a two-decade-long dispute,
when DOI announced it will release the fund, now valued at $90 million,
to the Yurok Tribe. Prior to this position, Puzz was an associate
with Best & Flanagan serving clients in gaming regulatory, real
estate, governance and employment matters.
Puzz
received his B.S.E in social studies from the University of Wisconsin
- Whitewater and his J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law School.
He was president of the American Indian Law Students Association
(AILSA), and he was a clinic participant for the Indian Child Welfare
Law Center where he represented parents involved in Children in
need of Protective Services (CHIPS) hearings.
He
is an active member of the Minnesota American Indian Bar Association
and an active University of Minnesota AILSA alum.
When
he isn't practicing law, Puzz enjoys playing with his young son, camping
and being in nature with his family, and motorcycle riding. He has
relatives living near the Yurok reservation, including grandparents,
aunts, and uncles, and he will continue to bring his family back to
spend time there.
Enrolled member of the Yurok Tribe
Minnesota State Bar Association
Minnesota American Indian Bar Association
Civil Rights Moot Court Participant
Dean's List (all three years)
Royal Stone Scholarship Recipient
Admissions
Committee Member, University of Minnesota Law School (2003-2004)
Faculty Appointment Committee Member, University of Minnesota Law
School (2003-2004)
American Indian Law Student Association-President (2002-2004)
Research Assistant for Professor Kevin Washburn
Featured
In:
- www.mnlegaldiversity.org
- University of Minnesota Law Alumni News, Spring
2004, at www.law.umn.edu/alumni/perspectives.html
- Yurok Star, Yurok News, September 2004
|
Minneapolis,
MN
55402-4690