ROTHSTEIN DONATELLI - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Attorney - Tempe Office More Info
Adriana was named a Native Justice Scholar by the Mitchell Hamline School of Law in St. Paul, MN, where she graduated in 2020. A member of the Indian Law Program, she participated in the Native American Law Student Association at both the local and national levels. Adriana served as the Primary Editor of the Journal of Public Policy and Practice and was published for her research on school funding for Navajo schools. Adriana's clinical experience during law school includes having worked with the Navajo Nation Department of Justice-Office of the Prosecutor, for which she was awarded the Don M. Lewis Fellowship, and with the Center for Law and Education in Washington, D.C.
Adriana is an animal lover and advocate, and she enjoys hiking the Southwest, world travel, and karaoke.
Job Titles:
- Attorney - Santa Fe Office More Info
April Olson is a first-generation college student and the first attorney in her family. She was raised in northern Minnesota but has multicultural roots indigenous to Mexico and Sweden. April went into the field of law to make a difference and she is a relentless optimist. Prior to law school, April worked in social services for the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. April's experience in social services working with the Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) and children was an inspiration and a catalyst for her journey to law school.
April studied law at the Sandra Day O'Conner College of Law at Arizona State University (ASU). She chose ASU because of their renowned Indian Legal Program (ILP), which offers an emphasis in Indian law and a nationwide family of Indian law practitioners. April graduated from ASU with a certificate of Indian law and the National Association of Women's Lawyers Outstanding Graduate Award.
After law school, April began working for the Gila River Indian Community and served the tribe as both a Prosecutor and an Assistant General Counsel. April left the Community to join the law firm of Rothstein Donatelli LLP where she is now a partner. April's practice is primarily in the field of Indian law, which means she does a wide variety of different things and her work overlaps with other fields including criminal law, labor and employment, civil litigation, dependency law and the ICWA, and guardianships and adoptions.
April finds inspiration in the clients and counselors she works with who continue to fight for tribal sovereignty and the rights of indigenous people. She engages in substantial pro bono work and serves on the ASU Indian Legal Program Advisory Committee. April is also a member of the Native American Bar Association of Arizona, the Tribal In-House Counsel Association and the Indian Law Section of the State Bar.
Education
Eastern New Mexico University (B.S. 2000)
Arizona State University Sandra Day O'Conner College of Law (J.D. 2006)
Certificate of Indian Law
Job Titles:
- Attorney - Albuquerque Office More Info
Carey Bhalla is a Mississippi native who moved to the Land of Enchantment in 2006 to start her legal career at the Public Defender's Office, where she represented hundreds of clients in felony cases including homicides, trafficking, sexual offenses, robberies and general felonies. After opening her own firm in 2009, Carey developed her civil rights practice while continuing to litigate complex criminal cases. Carey's enthusiasm for criminal defense work and civil rights litigation is deeply rooted in her experience growing up in Mississippi, where she watched the disenfranchisement of her fellow Mississippians in the education system. Carey's father, a journalist in college and a lawyer himself, inspired Carey with his stories of exposing KKK members in the local newspaper and interviewing James Meredith in his dorm room at the University of Mississippi during the integration of the school.
Carey is admitted to the complex federal criminal panel in New Mexico and has worked on several death-eligible cases. She has successfully represented defendants in complex cases involving multiple defendants, Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) of 1970, Violent Crimes in Aid of Racketeering (VICAR), Hobbs Act Robberies, organized drug trafficking and homicides.
Good lawyering is a lot like investigative journalism, and Carey works hard to uncover the truth in her cases, often proving that the police agencies, school systems, and governmental agencies often work to undermine fundamental constitutional rights in both criminal and civil cases. Holding governmental agencies to account is important to Carey, and she focuses on that in all aspects of her litigation practice.
Ms. Connolly joined the firm as an associate in October 2005. Immediately prior to that, she was General Counsel to the Pueblo of Pojoaque, in which capacity she negotiated contracts, litigated disputes, and advised the Pueblo, its entities and enterprises, and tribal members on legal matters.
Job Titles:
- Attorney - Tempe Office More Info
- Member of the Navajo Nation
Jordan Hale is a member of the Navajo Nation from the Church Rock, New Mexico area. His
Job Titles:
- Attorney - Albuquerque Office More Info
Job Titles:
- Counsel
- of Counsel - Tempe Office More Info
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Attorney
- Attorney - Santa Fe Office More Info
Megan Dorsey is an associate attorney who joined the Santa Fe office in 2019. Her practice focuses on state and federal criminal defense and civil rights litigation.
Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Dorsey worked as an attorney for the Law Office of the Public Defender for approximately seven years.
During her time with the LOPD, Ms. Dorsey litigated hundreds of cases with charges ranging from traffic misdemeanors to homicide, trafficking and white-collar crimes. She sat as a panel member for the Santa Fe Magistrate Court DWI/Drug Court and acted as a voting member of the Santa Fe LEAD Program.
Ms. Dorsey has also worked as a policy analyst for the Speaker of the House during past legislative sessions.
Ms. Dorsey previously worked as an associate at Egolf, Ferlic, Martinez, & Harwood. During her time there, Ms. Dorsey litigated a variety of criminal and civil cases.
Job Titles:
- American Inns of Court ( Master Bencher )
Job Titles:
- Partner
- Partner in the Albuquerque
Peter Schoenburg is a partner in the Albuquerque office of Rothstein Donatelli, LLP.
Bob Rothstein was a founding partner of the firm in 1976. His practice focused on complex civil and criminal litigation, with an emphasis on civil rights, catastrophic injury, commercial and business torts, and white-collar criminal law. He was a frequent speaker and instructor on topics of trial practice and substantive law.
All of us at Rothstein Donatelli will forever miss Bob's presence, but his spirit and his legacy live on.
EDUCATION
University of California, B.A., 1966
UCLA, M.A. in political science, 1967
UCLA, C. Phil. in political science, 1970
University of California (Boalt Hall), J.D., 1974.
Completed two years of advanced study at the Center for the Study of Law and Society at the University of California.
Job Titles:
- Attorney - Albuquerque Office More Info
Job Titles:
- of Counsel - Tempe Office More Info
Terry Seaton Litigation (Spent 7 years establishing Seaton's innocence and gaining his release from prison. Seaton was ultimately vindicated by a substantial civil rights verdict in his favor against those responsible for the frame-up);