Seattle U Law offers programs specializing in Indigenous Law and Tribal Law for both current and aspiring lawyers.

JD Program

Indigenous Law Certificate

Beginning in Academic Year 2025-26 Seattle University School of Law will be offering a new Certificate in Indigenous Law.

The Certificate will require a mixture of courses, journal, and experiential learning resulting in completion of a minimum of 15 credits (an asterisk denotes availability to Flex JD students):

1. Required Courses (6 credits)

  • Indigenous Peoples, Law, and the U.S. (3 credits or perhaps 4 credits in future)
  • American Indian Tribal Law* (3 credits)

Complete Any Combination of at Least 9 Credits from the Approved Experiential Learning or Elective Courses Listed Below

2. Experiential Learning

  • American Indian Law Journal (3-8 credits)*
  • Tribal Law Clinic, International Human Rights Clinic, Regulatory Environmental Law Clinic, and the Civil Rights Clinic
  • National Native American Law Student Association Moot Court Competition
  • Center Research Fellowship or Independent Study/Substantial Paper (serving as a research assistant to the Center or an affiliated faculty member)*
  • Indigenous Law focused Internship/Externship taken for credit and approved by Directors (e.g., Tribal Judicial Externship, Tribal In-House Counsel Externship, Civil Legal Aid Externship, and Tribal Criminal Justice Externship)*

3. Elective Courses

  • INDL Courses
  • Tribal Court Practice
  • Social Impact Advocacy
  • International Law of Human Rights
  • Transitional Justice
  • Natural Resources Law
  • Climate Law & Policy
  • Water Law
  • International Environmental Law
  • Lawyering for Social Change
  • Environmental Law Fundamentals
  • Environmental Justice
  • Energy Law & Policy
  • Family Law
  • Immigration Law*
  • Employment Law*
  • Business Entities*
  • Conflict of Laws
  • Federal Courts
  • Administrative Law*
  • Intellectual Property
  • International Intellectual Property
  • Criminal Procedure*
  • Trust & Estates*
  • Negotiations*
  • Complex Litigation
  • Federal Litigation
  • Sports Law
  • Health Law
  • Any Summer Flex JD Course not listed*
  • JURS courses, including Courses from the non-clinic/externship, Law & Systemic Inequity Requirement course requirement such as Race & Law; Gender, Sexuality, & the Law; Law & Colonialism; Police & Prison Abolition; Abolition Vision and Praxis: Lawyering for a Freer World; Law & Social Science; Housing, Homelessness and Social Justice, etc.

The Certificate will begin accepting students in Fall 2025.