Katie Brossy Selected As One of Bisnow’s Top Lawyers Under 40

(Washington, D.C.) – Akin Gump public law and policy senior counsel Katie Brossy has been selected by Bisnow for its Top 40 Lawyers Under 40, which recognizes what the publication identifies as “some of the…most talented young lawyers” in Washington.

In her profile interview, Ms. Brossy, who works in the American Indian law and policy practice at Akin Gump, shared, as a noteworthy recent matter, her work on passing one of the largest Indian water settlements in U.S. history, the Crow Tribe Water Rights Settlement Act. This act provides over $460M to the Crow to repair their irrigation system, build a reservation-wide clean drinking water system and provide funds for energy development projects. She said, “This will be a huge step forward for the Crow Tribe and will enable it to access appropriated funds to begin important energy development projects.”

Among her career highlights, she noted her work on the Crow water settlement and also her work on the team that secured, on behalf of the Osage Tribe of Indians, the largest tribal trust claim settlement against the United States, adding, “After 11 years of litigation concerning the U.S. government’s mismanagement of tribal assets, the case resulted in a $380M settlement for the tribe.”

Ms. Brossy, a member of the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska, shared that she is active in the Native American community in Washington, D.C., and in Nebraska, including her service on “the Notah Begay III Foundation (NB3F), a nonprofit organization that is the only national Native American organization dedicated to reversing Native American childhood obesity and type-2 diabetes. As a member of the board, I am committed to supporting evidence-based, community-driven and culturally relevant programs that prevent childhood obesity and Type 2 diabetes in the Native American community.”

She credited as mentors her mother, who has served as the executive director of the Nebraska Commission on Indian Affairs for the past 20 years; Fred LeRoy, former chairman of her tribe; Don Pongrace, who heads Akin Gump’s American Indian practice; and Rod Lewis, the first Native American to argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court.

In November 2015, Ms. Brossy was a recipient of the Native American 40 Under 40 award by the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development (learn more here).

Founded in 1945, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP is a leading international law firm with more than 900 lawyers in offices throughout the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

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