PRACTICE AREAS
Employment & Labor
Environmental & Natural Resources
Litigation
Appellate
Business & Commercial Litigation
Tribal Nations Practice Group
Tribal Nations Labor & Employment
EDUCATION
University of Maine School of Law, J.D., 1986
University of Sussex, M. Phil,
with honors, 1983
University of California Berkeley, B.S. ,
phi beta kappa, 1979
BAR & COURT ADMISSIONS
Maine
Keweenaw Bay Indian Community Tribal Court
Little River Band of Ottawa Indians Tribal Court
Mohegan Tribe Gaming Disputes Court
Passamaquoddy Tribal Court
Penobscot Nation Tribal Court
Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians Tribal Court
Pueblo of Laguna Tribal Court
U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
U.S. District Court, District of Columbia
U.S. District Court, District of Maine
U.S. District Court, Western District of Michigan
U.S. Supreme Court
MEMBERSHIPS
American Law Institute, 2007-present
Maine Bar Foundation, 2005-present
Maine Bar Journal
Editorial Advisory Committee, 1989-2001/ Chief Editor, 1999-2001
Edward T. Ginoux Inns of Court
Senior Attorney, 1999-2001
Maine State Bar Association
COMMUNITY/PUBLIC SERVICE
University of Maine School of Law, American Indian Law
Adjunct Professor
National Ski Patrol, Sugarloaf Mountain; Stub Taylor, Pat Murphy Award (2008)
Alpine Patroller (1998-2010)
Portland Public Library Board of Trustees
Member (2003-2010)
Portland Public Library Executive Director Search Committee
Chair (2005)
PRACTICE AREAS
Employment & Labor
Environmental & Natural Resources
Litigation
Appellate
Business & Commercial Litigation
Tribal Nations Practice Group
Tribal Nations Labor & Employment
EDUCATION
University of Maine School of Law, J.D., 1986
University of Sussex, M. Phil,
with honors, 1983
University of California Berkeley, B.S. ,
phi beta kappa, 1979
BAR & COURT ADMISSIONS
Maine
Keweenaw Bay Indian Community Tribal Court
Little River Band of Ottawa Indians Tribal Court
Mohegan Tribe Gaming Disputes Court
Passamaquoddy Tribal Court
Penobscot Nation Tribal Court
Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians Tribal Court
Pueblo of Laguna Tribal Court
U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
U.S. District Court, District of Columbia
U.S. District Court, District of Maine
U.S. District Court, Western District of Michigan
U.S. Supreme Court
MEMBERSHIPS
American Law Institute, 2007-present
Maine Bar Foundation, 2005-present
Maine Bar Journal
Editorial Advisory Committee, 1989-2001/ Chief Editor, 1999-2001
Edward T. Ginoux Inns of Court
Senior Attorney, 1999-2001
Maine State Bar Association
COMMUNITY/PUBLIC SERVICE
University of Maine School of Law, American Indian Law
Adjunct Professor
National Ski Patrol, Sugarloaf Mountain; Stub Taylor, Pat Murphy Award (2008)
Alpine Patroller (1998-2010)
Portland Public Library Board of Trustees
Member (2003-2010)
Portland Public Library Executive Director Search Committee
Chair (2005)
Kaighn Smith, Jr. leads Drummond Woodsum’s nationwide Tribal Nations Practice Group and is a member of the firm’s Trial Services Group. He is a seasoned civil litigator in the field of federal Indian law and in civil rights, labor and employment, and contractual disputes. Kaighn fights for tribal nations in the federal, state, and tribal courts and before federal administrative agencies across the country. He has won cases in a wide range of areas, including jurisdiction and sovereignty disputes, gaming matters, labor and employment relations, land-in-trust and environmental matters, and fishing and water rights.
Since 2012, Kaighn has served as associate reporter (with Professors Matthew L.M. Fletcher and Wenona Singel) on the Restatement of American Indian Law for the American Law Institute. In 2011, he published the leading treatise,
Labor and Employment Law in Indian Country, with the Native American Rights Fund. He is listed in Chambers USA and in Best Lawyers in America for the category of Native American Law.
Kaighn clerked for Judge Frank M. Coffin at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and for Justice Louis Scolnik at the Maine Supreme Judicial Court. He serves as Adjunct Professor of American Indian Law at the University of Maine School of Law.
REPRESENTATIVE CLIENTS & MATTERS
Monga v. Nat’l Endowment for Arts, 323 F. Supp. 3d 75 (D. Me. 2018) (securing preliminary injunction under the Equal Protection Clause)
Penobscot Nation and United States v. Maine Attorney General, et als, Nos. 16-1424, 16-1435, 16-1474, 16-1482 (1st Cir. 2017) (hunting and fishing rights; reservation boundaries) (pending)
Rassi v. Federal Program Integrators, 69 F.Supp.3d 288 (D. Me. 2014) (securing tribal court exhaustion)
Francis v. Dana-Cummings, 962 A.2d 944 (Me. 2008) (securing tribal court jurisdiction)
Taxpayers of Michigan Against Casinos v. State of Michigan, 732 N.W.2d 487 (Mich. 2007) (securing compact validity)
TOMAC v. Norton, 433 F.3d 852 (D.C. Cir. 2006) (securing land into trust)
Inyo County, California, et al. v. Paiute-Shoshone Indians of the Bishop Community, 538 U.S. 701 (2003) (amicus brief team)
Penobscot Nation v. Fellencer, 164 F.3d 706 (1st Cir. 1999), cert. denied, 527 U.S. 1022 (1999) (securing exclusive tribal jurisdiction over civil rights dispute; freedom from application of state law)
Akins v. Penobscot Nation, 130 F.3d 482 (1st Cir. 1997) (securing exclusive tribal jurisdiction over civil rights dispute; freedom from application of federal and state law)
AWARDS
-
Best Lawyers USA, Native American Law 2008-2020
-
New England Super Lawyers, Native American Law, Employment & Labor 2011-2018
-
Chambers USA, Nationwide, Native American Law
-
Martindale Hubbell, BV Distinguished
PUBLICATIONS
Kaighn Smith, Jr. leads Drummond Woodsum’s nationwide Tribal Nations Practice Group and is a member of the firm’s Trial Services Group. He is a seasoned civil litigator in the field of federal Indian law and in civil rights, labor and employment, and contractual disputes. Kaighn fights for tribal nations in the federal, state, and tribal courts and before federal administrative agencies across the country. He has won cases in a wide range of areas, including jurisdiction and sovereignty disputes, gaming matters, labor and employment relations, land-in-trust and environmental matters, and fishing and water rights.
Since 2012, Kaighn has served as associate reporter (with Professors Matthew L.M. Fletcher and Wenona Singel) on the Restatement of American Indian Law for the American Law Institute. In 2011, he published the leading treatise,
Labor and Employment Law in Indian Country, with the Native American Rights Fund. He is listed in Chambers USA and in Best Lawyers in America for the category of Native American Law.
Kaighn clerked for Judge Frank M. Coffin at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit and for Justice Louis Scolnik at the Maine Supreme Judicial Court. He serves as Adjunct Professor of American Indian Law at the University of Maine School of Law.
REPRESENTATIVE CLIENTS & MATTERS
Monga v. Nat’l Endowment for Arts, 323 F. Supp. 3d 75 (D. Me. 2018) (securing preliminary injunction under the Equal Protection Clause)
Penobscot Nation and United States v. Maine Attorney General, et als, Nos. 16-1424, 16-1435, 16-1474, 16-1482 (1st Cir. 2017) (hunting and fishing rights; reservation boundaries) (pending)
Rassi v. Federal Program Integrators, 69 F.Supp.3d 288 (D. Me. 2014) (securing tribal court exhaustion)
Francis v. Dana-Cummings, 962 A.2d 944 (Me. 2008) (securing tribal court jurisdiction)
Taxpayers of Michigan Against Casinos v. State of Michigan, 732 N.W.2d 487 (Mich. 2007) (securing compact validity)
TOMAC v. Norton, 433 F.3d 852 (D.C. Cir. 2006) (securing land into trust)
Inyo County, California, et al. v. Paiute-Shoshone Indians of the Bishop Community, 538 U.S. 701 (2003) (amicus brief team)
Penobscot Nation v. Fellencer, 164 F.3d 706 (1st Cir. 1999), cert. denied, 527 U.S. 1022 (1999) (securing exclusive tribal jurisdiction over civil rights dispute; freedom from application of state law)
Akins v. Penobscot Nation, 130 F.3d 482 (1st Cir. 1997) (securing exclusive tribal jurisdiction over civil rights dispute; freedom from application of federal and state law)
AWARDS
-
Best Lawyers USA, Native American Law 2008-2020
-
New England Super Lawyers, Native American Law, Employment & Labor 2011-2018
-
Chambers USA, Nationwide, Native American Law
-
Martindale Hubbell, BV Distinguished
PUBLICATIONS
