Ron Whitener

Ron is a member of the Squaxin Island Tribe and grew up in his community as a treaty commercial and subsistence fisherman and hunter and worked for his Tribe’s natural resources department until leaving for law school. In 1994, Ron graduated from the University of Washington Law School and was hired as the first in-house legal counsel for his Tribe. In that capacity, Ron advised and represented the Tribal Council, departments, and economic enterprises on issues related to treaty rights, tribal governance, Indian health, and economic development.

​In 2000, Ron joined the Northwest Justice Project’s Native American Unit and represented Natives in tribal, state, and federal courts. In 2002, Ron joined the faculty of the University of Washington Law School where he created the Tribal Court Public Defense Clinic and was awarded the Shanara Gilbert Emerging Clinician of the Year from the American Association of Law Schools. In 2011, Ron was named a Champion of Change by President Barack Obama for his work advocating for public defense to juveniles in tribal courts. In addition to his clinical work, Ron served as the Chief Judge for the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Indian Reservation. In 2014, Ron left the UW to accept appointment as the Chief Judge for the Tulalip Tribes but remains on the UW Faculty as an Affiliate Professor of Law. Ron retired from Tulalip in 2020. Through The Whitener Group, a consulting company Ron formed in 2009 with his brother and niece, he assists tribes in developing and improving their justice systems. Ron has conducted over 70 tribal court evaluations in Alaska, and approximately 20 in the Lower 48. Ron is Order of the Coif and Order of Barristers.