Pilar Thomas Discusses Legal Nuances of Project Development on Indian-Owned Land in Engineer News-Record Article
Quarles & Brady partner Pilar Thomas, a Tucson-based Energy, Environment & Natural Resources Practice Group, was quoted in Engineer News-Record in which she discussed the unique legal and cultural nuances of project development on Indian-owned land.
Pilar discussed the complexity of working with tribes due to their sovereign status:
“Tribes want you to do your homework before you start working with them,” said Pilar Thomas, a partner at law firm Quarles & Brady and a former Indian affairs official in the U.S. Interior and Energy Depts. While she termed gaming-related development on indigenous lands “an anchor of economic and infrastructure development for tribes” since a 1988 federal law enabled it, Thomas pointed to the added complexity of project and contract approval because of tribes’ sovereign status.