F. Michael Willis
Partner

Mr. Willis practices primarily in the areas of tribal transportation, trust reform, the application of the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) to Indian Self-Determination Act agreements, the federal administrative process for tribal recognition, and the firm’s work with indigenous peoples of Latin America.

Mr. Willis first joined HSDW as a law clerk in 1997. As an associate of the firm, he was the primary drafter of the amicus curiae brief submitted by the Intertribal Transportation Association (ITA) in the Wagnon v. Prarie Band of Potawatomi Nation fuel tax case before the Supreme Court. In the area of trust reform Mr. Willis has worked with the United South and Eastern Tribes (USET) in encouraging a legislative settlement of the Cobell v. Norton lawsuit and promoting greater tribal involvement in and oversight of the government’s management of trust assets. He was the primary drafter of the first amicus curiae brief submitted by the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI) in the Cobell v. Norton litigation. He has specialized in tribal risk management and the application of the FTCA to Indian Self-Determination Act agreements, testifying on that subject before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs (July 2000) and publishing, with S. Bobo Dean, “Tort Liability under the Indian Self-Determination Act,” in the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s, Sovereignty Symposium XIV (2001).

After spending most of 2003-2004 working as a Democracy Officer with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in La Paz, Bolivia, Mr. Willis returned to the firm in late 2004 and became of Partner in 2006. Drawing from his experiences working with indigenous communities and organizations in Bolivia, and nearly a decade of human rights work with indigenous communities in Guatemala from 1988-1997, Mr. Willis has helped launch the firm’s new international practice area. Representing Americans for Indian Opportunity (AIO), Mr. Willis has designed activities and drafted funding proposals to enable AIO to work with indigenous Bolivians to strengthen their ability to promote inclusive, democratic processes for the country that incorporate indigenous traditions and that respect indigenous culture and identity.

Mr. Willis earned his B.A. (with high honors) from the College of William & Mary in 1987 and his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center in 1998. He authored the note, “Economic Development, Environmental Protection and the Right to Health,” Geo. Int’l Envtl. L. Rev. 195 (1997). He has served as a moot court judge for American University’s Inter-American Human Rights Moot Court, an international competition involving practitioners and students from across the Americas presenting hypothetical cases under the law and procedures of the Inter-American system for the protection of human rights. He has also taught the human rights course, “Economic, Social and Cultural Rights” at American University’s Washington College of Law.

E-mail: mwillis@hsdwdc.com

Phone: (202) 822-8282

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