BIOGRAPHY

Michael D.O. Rusco (Cooweeja Mįįnąk) has spoken, published, taught, and practiced extensively in the areas of litigation, appellate advocacy, commercial law, tribal law and federal Indian law. He has published articles on legal writing, tribal sovereignty, and tribal citizenship. He has advised businesses and tribal governments on a variety of high stakes matters including commercial contracts, business structures, construction law, constitutional law, employment law, gaming, taxation, breach of trust claims, wildlife and natural resources defense, tribal code drafting, U.S. Supreme Court appeals, and collection of tribal court judgments. He is a former University of Wisconsin William H. Hastie Fellow and law professor.

Prof. Rusco has been a law professor for more than 13 years. His scholarship has focused on legal writing, tribal law, and federal Indian law. He has taught courses on legal writing, legal research, oral advocacy, contract law, contract drafting, litigation drafting, civil procedure, conflicts of law, and business structures.

Prof. Rusco’s practice experience complements his academic career. Prof. Rusco practiced trial and appellate law for more than 12 years. During that time, he served as Senior Tribal Counsel for the Ho-Chunk Nation (“HCN”) Department of Justice, Staff Attorney for the HCN Judiciary, an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Wisconsin, and a business litigator at Adair & Myers, PLLC.

During his time with the Ho-Chunk Nation, Prof. Rusco’s primary area of responsibility was advising the Nation’s Department of Business, the Ho-Chunk office that oversees the Nation’s $1B-plus gaming, retail, and smoke shop enterprises. In that capacity, he provided advice on contract review and enforcement, construction law, employment law, RFPs/RFIs, and taxation. Two of Prof. Rusco’s largest assignments were to provide legal support to the Nation’s multimillion dollar casino renovation project and guidance on a multimillion dollar dispute with an information technology services vendor.

During his tenure with the Wisconsin Department of Justice, Prof. Rusco presented oral argument before the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and the Wisconsin Supreme Court (State of Wisconsin ex. rel. Hensley v. Endicott, 245 Wis.2d 607, 629 N.W.2d 686 (Wis. 2001)). He now lives in Baton Rouge, Louisiana with his wife Shanna, son Samuel, and daughter Poppy.

TRIBAL CITIZENSHIP: Cherokee Nation

PRACTICE EXPERIENCE:

  • Trial and Appellate Practice: Investigation and Assessment, Motion Practice, Discovery, Trial, Appeal, and Judgment Enforcement/Collection

  • Tribal and Federal Indian Law: Tribal Governance/Structure/Procedure, Breach of Trust, Natural Resource and Wildlife Protection, Constitutional Design, Legislative Drafting, Sovereign/Civil Rights and Duties, Citizenship Criteria.

  • Business Law/Counseling: Contract Negotiation/Drafting/Enforcement, Construction Law and Contracting, RFI/RFP Drafting, Gaming Law, Taxation in Indian Country, Employment Law, Complex Litigation and Business Negotiation, Economic Development and Diversification.

EDUCATION: University of Wisconsin Law School (J.D. 1998, LL.M. 2010); University of Houston (B.A. Journalism 1993).

HONORS:

  • University of Wisconsin: William H. Hastie Fellowship 2008, Indian Law Student of the Year 1998, Heffernan Moot Court Competition Quarterfinalist 1997, Senator Feingold Award 1997, University League Award 1997, Fall Oral Advocacy Quarterfinalist 1996. Legal Education Opportunity Fellowship 1995

  • Legal Writing Institute: Legal Writers Workshop Invited participant 2008.

  • University of Houston: Honors College member, Daily Cougar Editor-in-Chief 1992-93, Alumni Fund Scholarship, Houston Press Club Scholarship, Society of Professional Journalists’ Region 8 College Competition 1993 (Best Overall Student Paper, News Reporting Third Place (individual), Editorial Writing Third Place (individual)), Houston Society of Professional Journalists Grant

  • Omicron Delta Kappa member

ADVOCACY, PRO BONO WORK, AND COMMUNITY SERVICE:

  • Hindsight Distorted: Dispelling Misconceptions about Native Society Prior to 1492-Annual Native American Heritage Month presentation. Kiwanis Club, Baton Rouge, Louisiana Nov. 17, 2022; Southern University Law Center, Baton Rouge, Louisiana Nov. 5, 2021 and Nov. 11, 2020; and Houston Community College, Houston, Texas Nov. 22, 2019 and Nov. 26, 2018.

  • Ho-Chunk Nation-Acting Attorney General requested research and a substantial memorandum analyzing whether the federal Fair Labor Standards Act applies to tribal enterprises located on trust land.

  • Texas Green Party-Researched and drafted a successful brief to the Texas Supreme Court addressing a ballot access issue. Note: the brief was filed under the signature of the attorney of record. A letter from the party chair acknowledges my participation. In re Green Party of Texas, 630 S.W.3d 36 (Tex. 2020).

  • Wisconsin Department of Justice-Successfully represented the Wisconsin Department of Corrections before the Wisconsin Supreme Court on an appeal of the state Prison Litigation Reform Act’s exhaustion requirement. State ex rel. Hensley v. Endicott, 245 Wis.2d 607, 629 N.W.2d 686 (2001).

PUBLICATIONS:

  • Oklahoma v. Castro-Huerta, Jurisdictional Overlap, Competitive Sovereign Erosion, and the Fundamental Freedom of Native Nations, 106 Marq. L. Rev. 889 (2023).

  • Incorporating Federal Indian and Tribal Law into Litigation-Drafting Curricula, in Integrating Doctrine and Diversity: Inclusion & Equity Beyond the First Year (Nicole P. Dyszlewski et al eds., 2024) (with Prof. Gail Stephenson).

  • Sine Qua Non: Competitive Sovereign Erosion and the Federal Fiduciary Duty to Avoid Jurisdictional Overlap (submission Fall 2025).

  • Incorporating Indian Law Into Legal Writing Curricula: Where It Works and Where It Does Not (submission Fall 2025).

  • Using Math Analogies to Make Legal Writing More Accessible to STEM Students (submission Fall 2025).

  • Ancillary Skills and Law School Success, 35 The Second Draft, May 2022 https://www.lwionline.org/article/ancillary-skills-and-law-school-success (peer reviewed, online).

  • Tribal Influence in Federal and State Politics, in Tribal Administration Handbook: A Guide for Native Nations in the United States (Rebecca M. Webster and Joseph Bauerkemper eds., 2022) (with Prof. Kirsten Matoy Carlson and Attorney Patrice Kunesh).

  • Avoiding Extinction, Preserving Culture: Sustainable, Sovereignty-Centered Tribal Citizenship Requirements, 91 N.D. L. Rev. 1 (2015). Selected by the Native American Rights Fund to be part of its online law library on tribal citizenship.

  • Tribal Citizen Participation in State and National Politics: Welcome Wagon or Trojan Horse? 36 Wm. Mitchell L. Rev. 793 (2010). Cited by or in the Minnesota Supreme Court, the Yale Law Journal, and the American Indian Law Deskbook. 

ADMISSIONS: Ho-Chunk Nation (inactive), Texas (active), Wisconsin (inactive).

ASSOCIATIONS:

  • Tribal In-House Counsel Association, Board of Directors, March 2017 to 2019

  • Legal Writing Institute, Member, August 2006 to Present

  • Journal of Legal Communication & Rhetoric, Article Reviewer, Sept. 2014 to June 2016

  • Association of Legal Writing Directors, Survey Committee, Nov. 2013 to March 2016

 PRESENTATIONS:

  • Your Next Article (New Scholars Workshop), Southeast Association of Law Schools 2023 Conference, Panelist, Boca Raton, Florida, July 24, 2023.

  • Implementing ABA 303(c) in the Legal Writing Classroom, Southeast Association of Law Schools 2023 Conference, Co-moderator, Boca Raton, Florida, July 28, 2023 (with Prof. Brooke McDonough).

  • A New Lens: Diversity, Standard 303(c), and Problem Development, ALWD 2023 Biennial Conference, University of California, Irvine School of Law, July 14, 2023 (with Prof. Gail Stephenson and Prof. Wendy Shea).

  • Separate and Unequal in Indian Country, Law and Society Association 2023 Annual Meeting, Thematic Panel Discussion, San Juan, Puerto Rico, June 2, 2023 (with Prof. Winona Singel, Assistant Prof. Dan Lewerenz, and Assistant Prof. Daniel Rice).

  • ALWD Scholars Workshop, Association of Legal Writing Directors, University of Oregon School of Law, Oct. 7, 2022.

  • Life After Law School Series: Writing Workshop, Student Bar Association, Southern University Law Center, Oct. 7, 2021.

  • Plenary Power, Lone Wolf’s Legacy, and Imperium en Imperio: Can Sovereignty Survive?, Tribal Courts and Sovereignty Symposium, Southern University Law Center, Oct. 25, 2019.

  • Historical Legacies of Blood Quantum in Indian Law, State Bar of Arizona CLE, Albuquerque, NM, May 4, 2018.

  • Taxation of Construction Projects in Indian Country, State Bar of Arizona CLE, Albuquerque, NM, Oct. 18, 2017.

  • Tribal Equal Access to Voting Act, Eleventh Circuit Legal Scholarship Forum, Stetson University College of Law, Nov. 13, 2015.

  • Integrating Google Docs Into Your Curriculum, Central States Legal Writing Conference, University of Kansas School of Law, Sept. 28, 2013.

  • Student Emotion, Performance, and Evaluations, Western Regional Legal Writing Conference, University of Oregon School of Law, Aug. 11, 2012.

  • Tribal Citizen Participation in State and National Politics: Welcome Wagon or Trojan Horse?, Southern University Law Center Speaker Series, Feb. 25, 2011.

  • Tribal Citizen Participation in State and National Politics: Welcome Wagon or Trojan Horse?, Texas State Bar, Indian Law Section Meeting, Jan. 14, 2011.

  • Citizenship, Race, and Symbiosis: A Critique of Tribal Citizenship Practices, University of Wisconsin Indian Law Conference, March 27, 2009.

  • Legal Writers Workshop, Legal Writing Institute, July 2008. Invited participant.

  • Mitigating Emotional Barriers to Student Performance: Strategies for New Legal Writing Professors Rocky Mountain Legal Writing Conference, March 22, 2008.