B I a Office of Justice Services Keans Canyon Az

Susan Eastman

Principal Attorney and Director

Susan Eastman was born and raised in New Jersey. She has lived in the Southwest since May 2002 and in Arizona since November 2004. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree with a dual major in Anthropology and History in 1991and a Master of Library Service in January 1994 from Rutgers University. She earned her Juris Doctor from Vermont Law School and graduated in May 2002. She is the Principal Attorney and Director of the Navajo-Hopi Legal Services Program, where she began as a staff attorney in June 2009. She represents individual Navajos in their claims for relocation assistance benefits before the Office of Navajo and Hopi Indian Relocation and in federal court. She also provides legal assistance and advice to the Navajo-Hopi Land Commission, and advocacy on behalf of Navajo relocatees with the Navajo Nation Washington Office. Before working for NHLSP, Susan worked in private practice as an associate attorney for a California-based law firm in the firm's Las Vegas and Phoenix's offices representing subcontractors as insurance defense counsel in construction defect litigation. She has also worked as an attorney for two other Arizona law firms. As an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Arizona, Susan represented the Arizona Department of Child Safety in dependency and parental termination proceedings, including ICWA cases involving Navajo children. She has a licence for the Arizona, Nevada, the U.S. District Court of Arizona, and the Navajo Nation. She lives with her son Gabriel in Flagstaff, Arizona. She enjoys yoga, meditation, cooking, playing guitar, and hiking in her spare time.

Chris Benally,

Attorney Candidate

Chris Benally was born and raised on the Navajo Reservation. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminal Justice in 2008 from Utah Valley University, in Orem, Utah. He earned his Juris Doctor from J. Reuben Clark Law School in Brigham Young University and graduated in April 2015. He is an Attorney-Candidate at the Navajo-Hopi Legal Services Program, he began work here in 2019. He educates Navajo Community Members in the Navajo Language and the English Language, whom were impacted by the Navajo-Hopi relocations from the 1970's to the present. He also provides legal assistance to Navajo Child Support Enforcement Office in Tuba City, Az. Before working for NHLSP, Chris worked with the Navajo Nation Court's as a staff attorney at Chinle District Court, and prior to that as a criminal prosecutor in Tuba City, Az.. He has a licence with the Navajo Nation Bar. He likes to eat and sleep.

Brela Multine

Legal Secretary

Brela Multine is an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation. She grew up in Tuba City, Arizona on the Navajo reservation. She is a graduated of Tuba City High School and Associates degree in Paralegal studies. She currently works as a Legal Secretary with Navajo Hopi Legal Services Program. She has for NN Child Support Department for 11 years, Arizona Department of Economic Security for 10 years. She is married and mom of four children, 2 girls and 2 boys.

NAVAJO-HOPI LEGAL SERVICES PROGRAM (NHLSP)

TUBA CITY, NAVAJO NATION – The Navajo-Hopi Legal Services Program (NHLSP) in Tuba City is now fully-staffed. The Navajo Nation Department of Justice (DOJ) has hired Susan Eastman to return as Principal Attorney and Director of the Navajo-Hopi Legal Services Program effective November 12, 2019. Ms. Eastman previously worked as an attorney and Director of NHLSP from June 2009 through October 2018. With the restoration of funding of NHLSP by the Navajo Nation Council and Attorney General McPaul's commitment to maintaining operation of NHLSP consistent with the statutory charge of DOJ, Ms. Eastman and staff will resume handling federal appeals of denials of relocation benefits on behalf of Navajo tribal members. NHLSP will also be fully-staffed to assist Navajos individuals who have already been determined eligible for relocation benefits to ensure they receive the full benefits for which they have fought for so long to obtain through the lengthy application and appeal process with the Office of Navajo and Hopi Indian Relocation.

In addition to Ms. Eastman, DOJ hired Mr. Christopher P. Benally as an Attorney Candidate in August of this year. Mr. Benally is an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation and speaks the Navajo language. Among other things, Mr. Benally can assist Navajos impacted by relocation by interpreting and/or answering their questions about eligibility for relocation benefits and the appeal process with ONHIR and the federal courts. Ms. Brela Multine serves as NHLSP's Legal Secretary and has worked in that capacity since 2017. Ms. Multine is also an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation and speaks the Navajo language. She is also a Notary Public.

Since 1983, NHLSP has represented more than 2,000 individual Navajo clients who were displaced by the Navajo-Hopi Settlement Act ("NHSA"), 25 U.S.C. §640d et seq. The program's attorneys represent individual Navajos who applied for relocation assistance benefits and appealed denial determinations made by ONHIR. The NHSA was enacted on December 22, 1974 to resolve the longstanding land dispute between the Navajo Nation and the Hopi Tribe over the ownership and use of the 1882 Executive Order Reservation.

President Nez and Vice President Lizer offered their support stating, "The Nez-Lizer Administration is committed to empowering our people who are still affected by the relocation of their homes and families. Providing representation and legal services is part of that empowerment effort. There remains many unmet obligations by the federal government to our Navajo people, so we are hopeful that this step forward will help to resolve many of the issues. We commend the Attorney General and her staff for their work and we are confident that Principle Attorney and Director Eastman will do a great job."

Located in Tuba City, NHLSP is a unit of the Navajo Nation Department of Justice. The physical address of the NHLSP office is 117 Main Street, across from the Tuba City Boarding School. NHLSP's mailing address is P.O. Box 2990, Tuba City, AZ 86045 and the phone number is 928-283-3300.

Date: November 15, 2019

B I a Office of Justice Services Keans Canyon Az

Source: http://nndoj.org/legal_services.aspx