Rory Dilweg

Partner

Rory E. Dilweg

Rory Dilweg is a partner in Ocotillo Law and Policy Partners. He represents Indian tribal governments throughout the United States in all aspects of the law; including gaming, taxation, corporate issues, health care, child welfare, grant writing and compliance, and negotiations with state and local governments. He has participated in and led gaming compact negotiations in Arizona, Wisconsin, and California, and he has acted as lead negotiator for more than ten intergovernmental agreements for multiple tribes.

Prior to joining Padraic McCoy and Rebekah Salguero to form Ocotillo Law and Policy Partners, Rory was a partner at Berg Hill Greenleaf Ruscitti, LLP, a Boulder, Colorado based law firm. Before Berg Hill, Rory was a founding partner of Tilden, McCoy, & Dilweg, LLP, a boutique Indian law firm. Prior to forming Tilden, McCoy, and Dilweg, LLP, he was a partner in the Indian Law Practice Group at Holland & Knight LLP. In private practice, Rory provided tribal governments with expert representation in all areas affecting Indian tribes. He assisted tribes in California, Massachusetts, Virginia, and Wisconsin with land-into-trust applications, gaming management and development agreements, and environmental issues associated with large-scale gaming and development projects. Rory worked on discreet issues for individual Indian tribes as well as broad policy affecting all of Indian Country.

Before entering private practice, Rory served as in-house counsel for the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin, including two years as Interim Chief Counsel of the Nation’s legal department. As Interim Chief Counsel, Rory managed an eight-attorney office and provided day-to-day legal advice to the government of the Oneida Nation. Prior to becoming Interim Chief Counsel, he was lead attorney for several tribal departments, including the Oneida Health Center, the Oneida Utilities Department, and the Oneida Child Welfare Committee. As counsel to the Oneida Child Welfare Committee, Rory represented the Oneida Tribe in more than 150 child welfare actions throughout the United States where an Oneida child was involved.

Rory received his BA from the University of Wisconsin – Madison in 1993 and his JD from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1996. Rory is currently admitted to the State Bars of Wisconsin and California, and various Federal courts throughout the United States. He is a member of the Federal Bar Association, the Native American Bar Association, the Wisconsin Bar Association, the California Bar Association, and the Arizona Bar Association. Rory has been a member of the Wisconsin Bar’s Indian Law Section for the past fifteen years and has twice served as an officer. During his career, Rory has been a featured speaker on topics ranching from the Indian Child Welfare Act to Indian gaming to Tribal TANF.

Education

UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN
LAW SCHOOL
Juris Doctor, 1996

UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN, MADISON
B.A., 1993

Bar Admissions

• Arizona, California, Wisconsin

Specialties

Federal Indian Law, Indian Child Welfare Act, Indian Gaming, Indian Lands, Tribal Finance, Tribal Governance