Professional Profile

Claire M. Newfeld

Associate Attorney

Claire Newfeld joined Hobbs Straus in September 2023 after clerking in the D.C. office during her 2L summer. Originally from Phoenix, Arizona, she became interested in Native American issues during childhood visits to the Heard Museum, ruins of the Hohokam and other Indigenous peoples of Arizona, and Hawaii, where her mother was born and remains closely connected. As she became more aware of the modern challenges facing Tribes and Native people, she solidified her decision to attend law school and pursue a career in Federal Indian law.

Claire graduated from the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University and participated in the Indian Legal Program. While in law school, she served as a student attorney in the Indian Legal Clinic and won a civil traffic trial in the Gila River Indian Community Court, arguing on behalf of the Community. She served as a Legal Intern for the Arizona Attorney General’s Office in the Consumer Protection Division, a law clerk for Native American Rights Fund, and a legal fellow for the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs in the Office of Chairman Brian Schatz.

Also while in law school, Claire served as a Note and Comment Editor for the Arizona State Law Journal. Her Comment, Indian Boarding School Deaths and the Federal Tort Claims Act: A Route to a Remedy, was published in the Spring 2023 issue of the Arizona State Law Journal and won multiple awards, including the 2023 Scribes Law Review Award and the 2022 Ross-Blakley Law Library Research Award for Exemplary Student Research.

Claire’s interests in Indian law include protecting Tribal sovereignty, promoting the trust responsibility, the delivery of social services in Indian Country, and unique issues affecting Native Hawaiians and Alaska Natives. Outside of the office, she enjoys traveling, cooking, spending time with her loved ones, and doing the daily crossword.

Education

Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University, J.D. (magna cum laude) & Indian Law Certificate, 2023
University of California, Berkeley, B.A. (Highest Honors), 2019

Bar Admissions

District of Columbia

Professional Organizations

Native American Bar Association of D.C.

Selected Publications

Claire Newfeld, Indian Boarding School Deaths and the Federal Tort Claims Act: A Route to a Remedy, 55 Ariz. St. L.J. 355 (2023)