Professional Profile

Julie G. Combs*

Associate Attorney

Julie Combs, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, joined Hobbs Straus as an associate in June 2025. Prior to joining the firm, Julie was an Attorney-Adviser in the U.S. Department of the Interior’s Office of the Solicitor, Division of Indian Affairs. In that role, she advised the Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs on matters involving sovereign immunity, tribal government recognition decisions, and treaty rights. She also drafted administrative decisions and provided counsel to the Bureau of Indian Education on a wide array of matters, including issues arising under the Tribally Controlled Schools Act and Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act.

She earned her J.D. with highest honors from the University of Tulsa College of Law, where she received dual certificates in Native American Law and Sustainable Energy and Resources Law. During law school, she served as Articles Editor of the Tulsa Law Review and President of the Native American Law Student Association. She received several awards for academic excellence including the Oklahoma Bar Association’s Blake Champlin Environmental Law Award, the G. William Rice Memorial Scholarship for Indian law, and three CALI Excellence for the Future Awards.

Julie was awarded the 2019 Udall Foundation Native American Congressional Internship where she was placed as a legal intern in the Office of the Assistant Secretary – Indian Affairs. She later completed an externship with the Honorable Christine D. Little of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma and was a Research Assistant to Professor Aila Hoss.

She lives in northern Virginia with her husband, Nathan, and enjoys film photography, celebrity memoirs, and spending time with her cat.

*Not yet admitted to practice in DC. Admitted to practice in Oklahoma. Supervised by partners who are DC Bar Members.

Selected Publications

Julie Combs, A Coherent Ethic of Lawyering in Post-McGirt Oklahoma, 56 TULSA L. REV. 501 (2021).
Julie Combs, Bad Men Among the Whites Claims in the Mni Wiconi Age, 21 TRIBAL L. J. 1 (2021).
Heather Tanana, Julie Combs, and Aila Hoss, Water is Life: Law, Systemic Racism, and Water Security in Indian Country, HEALTH SECURITY, Vol 19(S1) (2021).

Professional Organizations

Native American Bar Association of D.C.

Education

University of Tulsa College of Law, J.D., (with highest honors), 2021
University of Tulsa, B.S.B.A., (with honors), 2018

Bar Admissions

Oklahoma
District of Columbia (pending)