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Vernon L. Peterson
Of Counsel
Vernon Peterson has recently joined the firm as of-counsel
after a long career as an attorney in the Department of the
Interior Solicitor’s Office. Vernon grew up in rural South
Dakota. He received a BA degree in English and history in
1970 and an MA in English in 1975, both from the University
of South Dakota. He served in the U.S. Army 1970-73, including
a tour in Vietnam. He graduated from University of Oregon
School of Law in 1978 and was admitted to the Oregon State
Bar the same year. During law school Vernon served as Staff
Attorney on the revision of Felix Cohen’s Handbook of Federal
Indian Law (1982 ed.)
Vernon entered the Department of the Interior in the Solicitor’s
Honor Program, where he served in the Washington Solicitor’s
Office, 1978-79, before transferring to the Portland Regional
Solicitor’s Office, where he represented Interior agencies
in the Pacific Northwest, including the Bureau of Indian
Affairs, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the National
Park Service, 1979-2006. During that time Vernon acted as
Department counsel in the treaty fishing rights litigation,
United States v. Oregon and United States v. Washington.
The last several years he served as Assistant Regional Solicitor,
supervising Department attorneys handling Endangered Species
Act and federal reserved water rights litigation in the Pacific
Northwest, including the Klamath Basin Adjudication and the
Snake River Basin Adjudication.
During his tenure in the Department of the Interior, Vernon
gained a great deal of experience in an array of federal
Indian law issues, including hunting and fishing, reserved
water rights, tribal jurisdiction and tribal government.
He also participated in many complex, multi-party resource-use
negotiations involving tribes, federal agencies and state
and private interests.
Vernon has taught courses as adjunct professor at Lewis & Clark
Law School (Federal Indian Law and Federal Indian Law Seminar),
1994-2003, and currently at the University of Oregon School
of Law (Tribal Courts and Tribal Law). Vernon has published
dozens of book reviews and literary essay in newspapers and
other Oregon publications.
E-mail: vpeterson@hsdwor.com
Phone: (503) 242-1745
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