Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians

Of Counsel, Barnes & Thornburg LLC

Former Assistant United States Attorney, U.S. Department of Justice

Jeff J. Davis is Of Counsel with Barnes & Thornburg, a firm of more than 600 legal professionals throughout 14 offices in Atlanta, California, Chicago, Delaware, Indiana, Michigan, Minneapolis, Ohio, Texas and Washington, D.C. The Firm is among the 100 largest firms in the U.S. with experience in virtually all the legal practice areas required to do business in today’s global marketplace. Mr. Davis joined the Firm in January of 2018, his office is located in the Grand Rapids, Michigan office and will focus on the development of a Native American Law and Policy practice group for the Firm.

Prior to joining Barnes and Thornburg, Mr. Davis was an Assistant United States Attorney for the Western District of Michigan, with two primary roles in the Western District of Michigan. First, the liaison between the United States Attorney’s Office and the federally recognized Tribes in Michigan, which requires working closely with the 11 Federally Recognized Tribes in the Western District on a wide variety of issues pertaining to their law enforcement and judicial systems. The other half is devoted to the prosecution of crimes that are committed in Indian Country which includes violent crime, white collar, and juvenile delinquency matters. The majority of felony cases prosecuted are child sexual abuse and domestic violence cases.

Prior to working as the Assistant United States Attorney, Mr. Davis was the Executive Director of the Indian Law & Order Commission, an independent national advisory commission created in July 2010 when the Tribal Law and Order Act was passed and extended in 2013 by the Violence Against Women Act Reauthorization (VAWA Amendments). The Commission was made up of nine commissioners appointed by the President and the majority and minority leadership of Congress. The Commission was tasked with holding public hearings throughout Indian Country to gather information from Native peoples directly on the state of justice in Indian Country, the current judicial, law enforcement and other systems the affect justice in these communities. At the completion of their public hearings, the Commission issued a report “A Roadmap for Making Native America Safer,” which was presented to the President and the United States Congress.

Mr. Davis obtained his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of North Dakota. He went on to receive his JD from the University of New Mexico.