Professional Profile

Akilah J. Kinnison

Partner

Akilah Kinnison joined Hobbs Straus in October 2013.  Akilah’s practice areas include natural resource protection, cultural preservation and repatriation, telecommunications, health care and education, tribal gaming, and governmental relations.

Akilah has significant experience drafting legislation, litigating in state and federal courts, advocating on Capitol Hill and in federal policy-making processes, and representing indigenous interests in international forums.  After several years in Hobbs Straus’ DC office, Akilah now works remotely from Tucson, Arizona.

Prior to joining the firm, Akilah received a J.D., magna cum laude, and LL.M. in Indigenous Peoples Law & Policy from the University of Arizona’s James E. Rogers College of Law.  She was a member of the Arizona Law Review, from which she received the Best Note Award for her article Indigenous Consent: Rethinking U.S. Consultation Policies in Light of the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

In her spare time, Akilah enjoys spending time with her husband Jed and their daughters Mariama and Aya Ruth.  She also teaches Critical Race Theory as a Professor of Practice at the University of Arizona.

Professional Organizations

National Lawyers Guild
Arizona Minority Bar Association
DC Native American Bar Association Board (2016–17)
Special Advisor to ABA Center for Human Rights (2016–19)

Education

University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law, LL.M., 2013
University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law, J.D., 2012
Davidson College, B.A., 2006

Bar Admissions

Georgia
District of Columbia
Arizona