Vanya S. Hogen Energy Park Financial Center, Suite 210 1360 Energy Park Drive Saint Paul, Minnesota 55108 |  |
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Experience
An enrolled member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, Vanya Hogen has practiced Indian law for 14 years, representing tribal governments and their business partners. Vanya is an experienced litigator in federal, state, and tribal courts. She won an important victory in the South Dakota Supreme Court that stopped South Dakota from imposing its motor-fuel taxes on Indian reservations in the state. And she has won both federal- and tribal-court victories in disputes over tribal rights to control reservation land use. Meanwhile, she maintains an active transactional practice, focusing primarily on Indian gaming and tribal financing.
Minnesota Law and Politics magazine recently selected Vanya as a "Super Lawyer" for the fourth time, and she is a frequent speaker at Indian-law seminars around the country. Vanya is also a judge for the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community Tribal Court. Vanya is a member and former Chair of the Board of Directors of the Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy, and serves on the Board of Governors for the University of St. Thomas School of Law.
Vanya's Indian-law experience includes:
- Tunica-Biloxi Tribe v. Bridges. Represented tribal government in suit challenging Louisiana's imposition of sales taxes on vehicles purchased by the tribe on its reservation. (Federal District Court, Middle District of Louisiana, 2006)
- Ottawa Tribal Casino. Represented developer and lender in agreements with the Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma for construction of a new casino, including obtaining a favorable decision from the National Indian Gaming Commission on the status and validity of the agreements. (2006)
- Fourier v. South Dakota Dept. of Revenue. Successfully represented tribal-member-gas-station-owner challenging application of South Dakota's motor fuel tax on the Pine Ridge reservation. (South Dakota Supreme Court, 2003 and 2004)
- Augustine Casino Development and Financing. Advised casino developer in agreements with the Augustine Band of Cahuilla Indians to develop, manage and finance new casino facility and achieve approval of the client's management agreement at the National Indian Gaming Commission. (2002)
- Melby v. Grand Portage Band of Chippewa. Defended tribe in suit by non-Indian reservation landowner over tribe's authority to zone non-Indian-owned land within reservation boundaries. Successfully argued that jurisdictional claims must first be brought in tribal court, and defended claim that Reservation boundaries had been disestablished by the Nelson Act. (Federal District Court, District of Minnesota, 1998)
- Gavle v. Little Six, Inc. Successfully urged the Supreme Court not to grant certiorari in case involving the application of tribal sovereign immunity to tribally owned corporation. ( U.S. Supreme Court, 1998).
- Bar Admissions:
- Minnesota
- South Dakota
- U.S. District Court District of Minnesota
- U.S. District Court District of Nebraska
- U.S. District Court District of South Dakota
- U.S. Court of Appeals 7th Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals 8th Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals 9th Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals District of Columbia Circuit
- U.S. Court of Appeals Federal Circuit
- Northern Plains Intertribal Court of Appeals
- Mille Lacs Tribal Court
- Northern Cheyenne Tribal Court
- Ho-Chunk Tribal Court
- U.S. Supreme Court
- Education:
- University of Minnesota Law School, Minneapolis, Minnesota,
1993
J.D.
Honors: Cum Laude - University of Minnesota,
1990
B.A.
Honors: Phi Beta Kappa
- Classes/Seminars Taught:
- Construction on Tribal lands, American Bar Association Forum on the Construction Industry, 2006
- Policing Indian Casinos: The Role of Tribal Gaming Commissions, Minnesota American Indian Bar Association, 2006
- Construction on Tribal Lands: Indian Tribes, Tribal Sovereignty, and Tribal Business Organizations, American Bar Association Forum on the Construction Industry, 2005
- Taxes Levied by and on Tribes and Tribal Peoples, Federal Bar Association 30th Annual Indian Law Conference, 2005
- Tribal Environmental Issues, Minnesota American Indian Bar Association Indian Law CLE, 2005
- The Pitfalls of Practicing Construction Law in Indian Country, Minnesota Bar Association Construction Law Section, 2004
- Financing Tribal Utilities, Law Seminars International, 2004
- Update of Indian Tax Litigation, National Intertribal Tax Alliance, 2003
- Air Quality in Indian Country, Fond du Lac Band of Chippewa, 2003
- Working Together With States on Environmental Enforcement, Federal Bar Association , 2003
