V. Heather Sibbison

Heather (V. Heather) Sibbison is a Partner and Chair of the Firm's Native American Law and Policy practice, specialising in Native American Law and Policy (United States). She serves clients on matters related to American Indian, Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian issues, with a primary focus on Indian lands, including trust acquisitions, land claim settlements, and compliance with the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

Heather has extensive experience in fee-to-trust and reservation proclamation strategies, tribal-state compacting, inter-governmental services agreements, and federal recognition issues before the Department of the Interior and the National Indian Gaming Commission. She assisted a Tribe in obtaining the first positive "Restored Lands" opinion under IGRA, a newly recognized landless Tribe in obtaining its first trust land and reservation proclamation, and a Tribe in obtaining implementation of land and water rights settlements. Prior to private practice, Heather served at the Department of the Interior as Special Assistant to the Secretary and Director of the Secretary's Office of Indian Water Rights, and at the Department of Justice as Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for Environment and Natural Resources.

Heather holds a J.D. from Columbia Law School (1988) and a B.A., magna cum laude, from Tufts University (1983).

She is consistently ranked as a leading practitioner in Native American Law by Chambers USA (Band One) and The Legal 500, and has been selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America since 2010.