Cherokee attorney receives Justice Rudolph Hargrave prize for writing

TULSA, Okla. – The Oklahoma Supreme Court’s Sovereignty Symposium, Inc. recently presented Crowe & Dunlevy director Michael McBride with the inaugural Justice Rudolph Hargrave prize for outstanding scholarly article from a faculty member.

The award was presented during The Sovereignty Symposium XXVI – 2013, held at the Skirvin Hilton Hotel in Oklahoma City on June 5 and 6. McBride’s article, titled “Fifty Shades of Regulation: A Survey of Internet Gaming Issues in Indian Country and a Framework for Future Development,” examines the state of iGaming in the U.S. and how regulation has progressed and will continue to develop.

“This prize is yet another recognition of Mike’s expertise in Internet gaming and Native American law,” said Kevin Gordon, president of the firm. “His knowledge of these issues is unparalleled in Oklahoma and is gaining attention nationwide, and we are very proud to have Mike’s leadership at the firm.”

The Sovereignty Symposium is the foremost legal gathering on Native American law in the world. The symposium was established to provide a forum in which ideas concerning common legal issues regarding Indian law can be exchanged in a scholarly, non-adversarial environment. Over the past 26 years, the symposium has examined a wide diversity of themes. In conjunction with the symposium, a scholarly collection of legal and historical writings is presented to all the participants. Legal libraries all over the United States regularly solicit copies of the publication for their collection. The symposium has previously published articles by United States Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and Pulitzer Prize-winning author N. Scott Momaday.

McBride is chair of the Indian Law and Gaming Practice Group in Crowe & Dunlevy’s Tulsa office. He has practiced law for two decades and represents many tribal governments. He is a director of the Tulsa Indian Club, Inc., a trustee for the Pawnee Nation College and served for almost a decade as a Justice for the Pawnee Nation Supreme Court. He was recently named to the Greater Tulsa Area Indian Affairs Commission.

He is a past chair of the Oklahoma Bar Association’s and Federal Bar Association’s Indian Law Sections, as well as a former national director and general counsel to the Federal Bar Association’s board of directors.