Daniel S. Press

Member

Dan Press has represented Indian tribes, Indian organizations and Indian-owned businesses for over thirty years. During that time, he has served as Washington counsel, economic development counsel, or general counsel for numerous tribes and Indian organizations, including the Navajo Nation, the Three Affiliated Tribes, the Blackfeet Nation, the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, the Alaska Federation of Natives, the Intertribal Agriculture Council, and the Intertribal Monitoring Association on Indian Trust Funds. In this capacity, Mr. Press has been involved in the debates surrounding virtually all of the major Indian legislation that has been enacted by the federal government over the past twenty years.

He specializes in Indian economic development. In coordination with the Firm’s energy practice, Mr. Press has assisted his energy resource tribal clients broaden and vertically integrate their energy development activities. As one of the founders of the tribal employment rights (TERO) program, he has helped tribes and Indian businesses benefit fully from various Indian preference and minority set-aside laws, such as the Buy-Indian Act, the Small Business Administration’s Section 8(a) program, and the Department of Defense’s small and disadvantaged business program. He has also assisted the tribes in their efforts to pass legislation that strengthens and expands preference and set-aside opportunities for businesses owned by tribes and individual Indians.

Mr. Press played a key role in the development of the Native American Bank - a national bank owned by twelve Indian tribes created to serve the unique banking needs of Indian country - and now serves as the institution’s Washington counsel. He also serves as general counsel to the Native American Community Development Corporation, the CDC created by the Bank to address the needs of the Indian home owners and small businesses who have been excluded from the banking system. In addition, he helped to create and serves as counsel to the Intertribal Economic Alliance, an organization of tribal leaders that advocates for programs to promote reservation economic development.

Mr. Press also assists tribes on land claims. In 1999, on behalf of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, he successfully lobbied for the enactment of legislation that created a $290 million trust fund to compensate the Tribe for the taking of its lands for a dam and reservoir on the Missouri River in the 1950s. He is now assisting the Three Affiliated Tribes in a similar effort.

Professional and Civic Affiliations

• American Bar Association

Speaking Engagements

• Going Pro: Pro Bono and the Legal Professional, November 15, 2007