Talk Justice: Episode 77

Featured Guests

Stephanie Hudson is a member of the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma. She is a fourth generation descendent of Chief Lone Wolf, and a descendent of Maun-kee (Kiowa Bill). She is the Executive Director of Oklahoma Indian Legal Services and is the clinical professor of the American Indian Estates Clinic.

Chief Lone Wolf was a Kiowa warrior on the battlefields of the Indian Wars in the late 1800’s. In 1907, he fought the United States of America in court, in the landmark Indian law case, Lone Wolf v. Hitchcock. He argued the U.S. violated their treaties when enacting the Allotment Act of 1900. The Kiowa and Comanche Tribes lost a substantial portion of their reservation with passage of the Act, and the U.S. Supreme Court’s holding that the Allotment Act was legal under Congress’ Plenary Power.

“After growing up watching all the complicated legal issues my grandparents had to deal with as owners of allotted Indian land, it was important to learn how to help Indian landowners. Understanding this complicated land ownership structure has become my passion, and my experiences growing up helped guide my path through law school and beyond.

Before becoming Executive Director of OILS, Stephanie was a staff attorney for 15 years and provided legal assistance to tribal members in Oklahoma tribal courts as well as Oklahoma state district courts. Before OILS, she worked with the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s Alternative Dispute Resolution System.

Stephanie received her Juris Doctor from the School of Law at Oklahoma City University and an accounting degree from OCU. She has also taught the American Indian Wills Clinic at the Oklahoma City University School of Law. She has taught Tribal Law, Tribal Peacemaking, Client Representation in Mediation and Interviewing, Counseling and Negotiation.

In 2007, she was presented with the Tucker Award which is given to the Guardian Ad Litem of the Year by the Family Law Section of the Oklahoma Bar Association. She is a member of the Oklahoma Bar Association, the Oklahoma Indian Bar Association, and numerous Tribal Court Bar Associations. She has served as the Special Advisor to the Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defendants for the American Bar Association.

She is a member of the Board of Directors of the United Urban Indian Council and has served on the Board of Directors of the Jacobson House. She has served as the Chairperson of the Oklahoma Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights.

David Bonebrake has served as a Deputy Director in the Legal Services Corporation’s (LSC) Office of Program Performance since joining in April 2023, where he oversees LSC’s Disaster program and assists with the management of basic field grants. Before this, he was a Program Counsel with OPP’s Technology Initiative Grant (TIG) program, starting in 2010. In that role, he aided LSC grantees in adopting new technologies and developing strategies to operate more effectively and efficiently. He also provides technical assistance to LSC grantees on using technology to enhance their programs and services, offering guidance on a range of topics such as website development, information security, online intake, and remote service delivery. David has been actively involved in several LSC initiatives. He spearheaded an LSC initiative to evaluate legal aid statewide websites and played a key role in launching the Legal Aid Disaster Resource Center and the Heartland Flood Help websites, in collaboration with the Disaster team. Additionally, he has participated in approximately 20 Basic Field Grant Program Quality Visits at LSC, where he provides analysis of grantee intake systems and the integration of technology.

Helena Cawley is the General Counsel and Head of Business Development for First Street Foundation focusing on identifying and creating strategic partnerships while advising the Foundation on a wide range of legal and compliance issues.

Helena started her legal career with law firms Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld in New York, and was most recently the President of HABIT Advisors, an organization that provided workplace training in the areas of sexual harassment prevention and diversity & inclusion.

Helena was also previously the CEO and Co-founder of Uplift Studios, a fitness boutique in New York City and has extensive experience with the legal matters pertaining to small and mid-size businesses.

Helena earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania, cum laude, and her law degree from New York University School of Law.

Shirley Peng has been at Legal Aid of Nebraska since December 2009. She is the Debt and Finance Unit Director and also manages the state-wide Disaster Relief Project since January 2015 and the Low Income Taxpayer Clinic (LITC) since January 2018. Prior to being a managing attorney, she was a staff attorney in both the Lincoln and Omaha offices handling public benefits and consumer law cases.

Shirley is licensed to practice in Nebraska and California. She graduated in 2006 from UCLA with a BA in Psychology and Chapman Law School with certificates in Tax Law and Environmental, Land Use and Real Estate Law in 2009. She can be reached at speng@legalaidofnebraska.org.

Host

Ronald S. Flagg was appointed President of the Legal Services Corporation effective February 20, 2020, and previously served as Vice President for Legal Affairs and General Counsel since 2013. He previously practiced commercial and administrative litigation at Sidley Austin LLP for 31 years, 27 years as a partner. He chaired the firm’s Committee on Pro Bono and Public Interest Law for more than a decade.

Flagg served as president of the District of Columbia Bar in 2010-2011 and currently serves as Chair of the Bar’s Pro Bono Task Force. He presently also chairs the board of the National Veterans Legal Services Program. He has also served as Chair of the District of Columbia Bar Pro Bono Committee, Chair of the Board of the AARP Legal Counsel for the Elderly, as a member of the American Bar Association’s House of Delegates, on LSC’s Pro Bono Task Force, and as a member of the Board of the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, the Board of the District of Columbia Access to Justice Foundation, and the District of Columbia Judicial Nomination Commission.

Flagg graduated with honors from the University of Chicago and cum laude from Harvard Law School. He began his career as a law clerk to Judge Myron L. Gordon, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin and as attorney-advisor in the United States Department of Justice, Office of Intelligence Policy.