Professional Profile

Elizabeth J. Coronado

Associate Attorney

Elizabeth J. Coronado is an enrolled citizen of the Picayune Rancheria of the Chukchansi Indians Tribe in California.  She joined Hobbs, Straus, Dean & Walker LLP in December of 2023 as an associate attorney and currently works remotely from California.  She advises tribal clients on matters related to their health care operations.  She has focused her career on advancing health equity of American Indian and Alaska Native people by advocating for tribal self-determination in tribal health care operations and upholding federal treaty and trust obligations.

Prior to joining the firm, she worked as the Senior Policy Advisor for the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board (NPAIHB) where she provided health policy support to the 43 tribes in Idaho, Oregon, and Washington and she previously worked as the Health and Human Services Attorney with the Lummi Nation.  After law school, she worked as an attorney within the Economic and Community Development Unit of the Navajo Nation Department of Justice.

She graduated cum laude from Suffolk University Law School in 2016 where she was the President of the Native American Law Student Association.  While in law school, she interned with the Office of Tribal Justice with the U.S. Department of Justice and the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe.

In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her son and partner—traveling, eating new foods, and playing outside.

Education

Suffolk University Law School, J.D., cum laude, 2016
California State University, Los Angeles, B.A., 2013

Bar Admissions

Arizona
California
Washington
U.S. District Court –Western District of Washington
Lummi Tribal Court
Navajo Nation Court—inactive

Selected Publications

The Plight of New England Tribes Pursuing Federal Recognition, 4 Am. Indian L.J. 546 (2016).

Of Note

Stanford University Federal Indian Law Guest Lecture: Tribal Sovereignty and the Indian Health System (November 2023)
NPAIHB NARCH Summer Training Institute Faculty Member: Indian Health Policy (June 2022)
Washington State Bar Association Indian Law Section CLE Panelist: COVID-19 Vaccine Mandates and Tribal Nations (June 2022)
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Indian Health Service, Tribal Health Programs, and Urban Indian Program Training Lecturer (2021-2022)
PRIM&R Advancing Ethical Research Workshop Panelist: Research with American Indian & Alaska Native Tribes and Communities (December 2020)
American Bar Association Webinar: Issues Affecting Native American Communities During the COVID-19 Crisis Panelist – Alternate Care Site Planning (April 2020)