One Week of Fun, Adventure & Excellent Experiential Learning - The Tribal Wills Project

Step outside the classroom to provide students with an opportunity for memorable pro bono service and outstanding experiential learning of the vital skills of interviewing, counseling and drafting, in spectacularly beautiful locations, while doing real wills, medical powers of attorney, burial instructions, and living wills for tribal members on Indian Reservations.
In the first two years of our Tribal Wills Project the project has become wildly popular with clients and students alike - attracting more students than 90 % of all of our non-required courses. The cost is minimal - especially when the tribes provide free housing at nearby casino hotels.  There is no disruption to regular classes, because students flock to participate during Spring Break, the last week of Winter Break, and the first week of Summer Break - right after exams.
Tribal members need our help!  Because of a recent federal statute, A.I.P.R.A., (The American Indian Probate Reform Act), if a tribal member dies without a will virtually all of his or her trust land will go only to the one oldest child, (grandchild, or great-grandchild).  Nothing to the surviving spouse or to the other children! So tribal members need wills.  Yet there usually are very few lawyers available in Indian Country, and even fewer who understand the complexities of A.I.P.R.A.
Advice will be given on how to establish the necessary relationships of trust with tribes before any Tribal Wills Project is started, and a description of the administrative details of such a project.
Unexpected events, such as finding unattended flocks of sheep, or wild horses in the road on the way to the work site, of figuring out how to cope with the occasional lack of the usual technology of scanners, printers, and cell phone reception, all add to the adventure. Students learn to appreciate the values of other cultures, and come back with a deep sense of satisfaction in having provided valuable legal services. And they have learned vital skills of interviewing, counseling and drafting.
To date we have done projects in Colorado, (Southern Ute and Ute Mountain Ute tribes); New Mexico, (Ramah and Crownpoint Chapters of the Navajo Nation); and Utah (White Mesa branch of the Ute tribe).
For more information, and to see some of the many favorable articles about the project, please visit our web page:
www.law.du.edu/index.php/tribal-wills-project