Kaiman, Kyle David

Debora Juarez is a Member in Williams Kastner's Seattle office. With a unique and vast experience building relationships with Washington State's Indian tribes, Ms. Juarez concentrates her practice on providing legal and financial counsel to tribes in the areas of debt financing, corporate structure, economic development, natural resources, gaming and tribal-state inter-local agreements, among others.

Ms. Juarez began her career as a King County Public Defender where she provided legal representation to indigent criminal defendants. This practice required extensive trial and appellate expertise in the areas of misdemeanor and felony crimes, including juvenile representation. Later, she joined Evergreen Legal Services, Native American Project, where she represented a majority of Washington's 29 tribes in such areas as treaty rights, natural resources, Indian Child Welfare and economic development.

After serving as an appellate and trial Judge pro-tem, she was appointed a Judgeship to the King County Superior Court. Ms. Juarez performed all duties as Judge, including presiding over both felony criminal and civil trials. Thereafter, she accepted the position of Executive Director of the Governor's Office of Indian Affairs, where she acted as lead policy and legal advisor under two gubernatorial administrations.

Ms. Juarez worked extensively with both state and tribal governments regarding economic diversity and initiated the Tribal Economic Vitality Initiative (TEVI). The TEVI project culminated in a historic (regionally and nationwide) tribal-state economic development study entitled The Tiller Report. The Report has undergone two printings and continues to serve as an important and powerful economic analysis regarding the tribes of Washington State and ongoing economic contributions to the state economy.

As such, she was offered the opportunity to create a Tribal Finance Group with a global investment firm. The Tribal Finance Group was a new undertaking for this major Wall Street firm and proved successful by providing tribes with first-rate financial advice and planning tailored to the needs of tribal governments and enterprises.

Ms. Juarez also provides legal skills to the corporate and investments communities that do business with tribes by providing an experienced, knowledgeable and stable platform to support successful tribal economic development. In 2009 and 2010, Ms. Juarez was named to Super Lawyers by Washington Law & Politics magazine. She was also named one of the Top Lawyers of 2007 by Seattle Magazine, and in June 2007 she was honored with the Enduring Spirit Award by the Native Action Network for her lifetime achievements in bettering Native American communities.

Ms. Juarez is an enrolled member of the Blackfeet Nation and lives in Seattle with her two daughters Raven and Memphis.