Yale Lewis III

Customer review: My huband and I chose Yale Lewis to represent us about 2 years ago. We as foster/adoptive parents wanted to seek custody or guardianship of a Native American child who was placed with us at 4 months old. Both of his parents were drug addicts and had terminated there parental rights shortly after birth. We were called to take in this child by the state because we were considered to be a native american home due to my husbands Cherekee heritage and having adopted 2 children who are also native american. The state later reinstated the fathers' rights so the child could be enrolled into his tribe. The state then applied and determined that ICWA should apply to this child. The state conveniently did not inform us of this. When he was aproximately 18 months old, we were informed by the state that our little boy was to go live with a cousin of the father on the reservation. Our family was devastated. He was our son and a brother to his older sibblings. We knew we had to do something, and after many phone calls we found Yale. It was difficult to find an attorney who had some tribal law knowledge or who had actually worked in tribal court. Yale was very honest with us from the very beginning. After listening to our story and being told which tribe it involved, he told us our chances of winning was only about 30%. For the love of this child we took on the challenge but in the end lost the battle. Yale worked hard to learn more about the ICWA. He was compassionate toward our plight and constantly kept us informed of what was going on. I would not hesitate in calling upon him again if needed. I believe he is a man of integrity, compassion and one who is not afraid of hard work! Yale has continued to work ICWA cases and has developed a powerful understanding of the law. He has found some success and continues to take on these challenges against seemingly impossible odds.

Customer review: Yale represented me in a grievance hearing after I have been wrongfully terminated. I was awarded my job back and back pay. I was very pleased with the results.

One thing that struck me about Mr. Lewis is his heart. He has heart. He truly cares.

I would definitely seek his assistance again if ever I needed an attorney. I highly recommend him.

Customer review: Yale represented me in an appeal for being terminated from my job as a Indian Child Welfare Program Manager for a Washington Tribe. He was knowledegable about Indian Tribes which was a big plus and what he didn't know he researched. He was persistent when the Tribe delayed the appeal process and the outcome was positive as my termination was over-turned. It was a trying time but Yale was supportive and responsive throughout.

Customer review: Yale represented my daughter and her husband in a Tribal Court that involved the Indian Child Welfare Act. This is a piece of law that allows Native American (NA) tribes to oversee the welfare of their registered NA children. It should be something that protects the children but, in fact, allows tribes to keep control over children to keep their numbers up and to get more benefits from the U.S. government, in some cases.

I paid the legal fees for a case where my daughter filed for Legal Guardianship of two tribal children whose mother is my niece. She has had 5 children with her NA boyfriend over the course of 10 years. Both are crack cocaine and heroine addicts. The other person who was trying to get custody was the NA grandmother, who had 5 children who all have substance abuse problems or are dead as a result of substance abuse. None of my niece's 5 children live with their mother and/or father, and the grandmother uses all of her grandchildren as a source of income because of the substance abuse problems of her children.

We were told by everyone, even strangers in the court system, that we didn't stand a chance. The NA grandmother currently had 9 of her grandchildren living with her and wanted the last two, who had been temporarily placed with my daughter and her husband.

In the end, Yale got us custody in a tribal court of the tribe to which the grandmother belonged. He did this in spite of the tribe firing 2 Indian Child Welfare Workers and a Court Clerk. In the end, we had to hire our own court clerk to record what was going on in court. But in the absolute end, we won. My daughter now has Permanent Legal Guardianship of the 2 children she was trying to protect until they reach the age of 18.

Yale's charges were reasonable and there was never a time I felt we were charged for unreasonable hours or services. He was always pleasant and changed direction a few times when I was feeling uncomfortable because of family emotions, and he always was at the other end of the line when I called, or he returned my calls in a very timely manner. I feel we were very lucky to have found someone so competent and honest. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we wouldn't have won on our own.

Customer review: O Yale Lewis did a superb job of representing in a challenging cross-cultural situation, sensitive to his client's unique situation and need for effective representation before a hearing judge. He carefully and thoroughly understood his client's very reasonable needs and request, comfortably and competently presented the request before the judge, and prevailed. We recommend O Yale highly and will return.

Customer review: Yale Lewis III has been our corporate attorney for several years.
He has always been extremely responsive and helped to keep all of the officers of our company well informed.
He advises us on situations with our corporate interests in mind rather than keeping his billable hours high.
I feel confident in his abilities and would highly recommend him to any friend or business acquaintance.

David Keegan
Vice President, Bamboo Hardwoods Inc.