It is with a mixture of great pride and sadness that the Firm announces that Ethel Branch is leaving to become the eleventh Attorney General of the Navajo Nation. Since joining the Firm in 2012, Ethel has served its clients with great distinction. She has brought her creative legal mind, unwavering attention to detail and stellar work ethic to bear on matters ranging from natural resources protection to the enforcement of gaming compacts. Moreover, in her position as co-chair of the Seattle Human Rights Commission, Ethel was instrumental in the City’s establishment of Indigenous Peoples Day and in the Commission’s decision to call for a boycott of corporate sponsors of the Washington NFL football team, a call the Firm was pleased to heed. Ethel has been a wonderful colleague, and we have all benefited greatly from her intellect, energy, kindness, and humor.
In short, the Firm will be very sorry to see Ethel go. However, we know that she will bring the same qualities that have made her such a valuable colleague and attorney to her new position. As the head of the Navajo Nation Department of Justice, Ethel will have the opportunity to discharge what she rightly views as a sacred responsibility to her own Nation, supervising a highly qualified team of lawyers engaged in an array of challenging and important legal matters on behalf of the country’s largest Indian nation. We have no doubt that she will work tirelessly to protect and advance the interests not only of the Nation but of Indian country more generally. We wish Ethel the very best in her new endeavor.