Best & FlanaganBest & Flanagan
Lenor A. Scheffler is the Chair of Best & Flanagan’s Native American Law Section. She practices in the areas of federal Indian law, tribal law, tax, tribal election representation, governance, gaming law, tribal financing and business law. Born and raised on the Lower Sioux Reservation near Morton, Minnesota, Lenor is an enrolled member of the Lower Sioux Dakota Community in Minnesota and the first member of the Mdewakanton Dakota Community to become an attorney. In October 2001, she was sworn in as chief judge of the Upper Sioux Community Tribal Court, retiring from the bench after serving the Community for five years.
Scheffler brings a wide range of experience in gaming and regulatory matters, complex business transactions, finance, tax, governance and other areas critical to tribal clients. These areas require special understanding of tribal immunity and law principles as applied to a sovereign nation. Along with the other members of the firm’s Native American Law Section, she serves as general and special counsel to tribes and tribal entities, represents tribes in gaming-related matters and provides advice and support to in-house counsel.
Lenor and her partners have been on the cutting edge of obtaining favorable tax solutions for beneficiaries of tribal minors’ trusts and for tribal members participating in tribal housing and other social benefit programs. In one significant case, Lenor and her partners successfully argued on behalf of a tribal minor’s trust fund, receiving a very substantial monetary award. She has also assisted in developing programs for investing tribal funds, educational assistance for tribal members and sophisticated financing for tribal projects.
In 2003, Lenor was appointed to the Minnesota Commission on Judicial Selection as an at-large member and continues to serve today. She teaches Indian taxation and jurisdiction classes across the country, including classes for tribal tax commissions, tribal councils and other tribal government departments. The Internal Revenue Service appointed Lenor to its Advisory Committee for Tax Exempt and Government Entities for a term from 2004 to 2007.
Lenor contributes her time and expertise to the community in multiple ways and recently received the Turtle Award from the Minnesota American Indian Chamber of Commerce for volunteering time, energy and services to support and promote the American Indian business community.
William Mitchell College of Law, J.D., 1988
St. Olaf College, B.A., 1979
State of Minnesota
U.S. District Court, District of Minnesota
Prairie Island Dakota Community Tribal Court
Lower Sioux Dakota Community Tribal Court
Shakopee Mdewakanton Dakota Community Tribal Court
Minnesota State Bar Association
Minnesota American Indian Bar Association - Founding Member
Minnesota American Indian Chamber of Commerce
Minnesota Woman Lawyers
Minnesota Private Colleges Council, Vice Chair
IRS Advisory Committee for Tax Exempt and Government Entities
Minnesota Commission on Judicial Selection - At-Large Attorney Member