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lawyer W Blake Follis in a suit smiling

W. Blake Follis

Partner

Contact Information

Kansas
(785) 408-1192

W. Blake Follis

Partner

Mr. Follis is a Business and Tribal Government attorney with a practice area focus on economic development for tribes and tribal entities, federal Indian law, water and natural resources law, governmental affairs, legislative development, gaming, negotiations, and administrative litigation. Mr. Follis joined the Firm in 2020, previously serving as the first Modoc Nation Attorney General from 2018-2019.

Prior to this appointment as Attorney General, he held and maintained the roles of Special Assistant to the Chief, Environmental Director, Modoc Bison Director and Inter-Tribal Buffalo Council (ITBC) Representative - serving as ITBC Region 2 Director, Board Member and Officer for several Modoc economic entities and governmental agencies. During his tenure at the Modoc Nation, of which he is a tribal citizen, Mr. Follis oversaw the acquisition of over 1,100 acres of Modoc ancestral homelands including a municipal airport that the tribe owns. From 2016-2019, he served as the Member at Large for the State of Kansas Water Office on the Kansas Regional Advisory Committee.

Honors:

  • 40 Under 40 Award, National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development (2019)

Admissions

  • Kansas

  • Missouri

  • Oklahoma

  • the Supreme Court of the United States of America

  • the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth and Second Circuits

  • the United States District Courts for the Western District of Missouri

  • the District of Kansas (KS)

Education

  • Oklahoma State University (B.S., 2008 & B.A., 2009), earning honors on the Dean’s and President’s lists for his degrees in Political Science and Sociology

  • Received placement in the inaugural 2006 class of the George Washington University Native American Political Leadership Program

  • He graduated from Washburn University School of Law in 2013, with a focus on Federal Indian Law and Water Law; becoming the first Modoc to attend and graduate from a law school.

Associations

  • Washburn School of Law Alumni Association

  • Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association

  • Missouri Bar Association

a pink rose on a bush in Kansas

Representative 
Cases

Modoc Nation v. Eastern Region Director & Bureau of Indian Affairs, 16-032 (IBIA 2016)

Modoc Nation v. Eastern Region Director & Bureau of Indian Affairs, 18-069 and 19-027 (IBIA 2019) (Appeals to procure surplus federal aircraft for Federally Recognized Tribes through the General Services Administration and the Bureau of Indian Affairs)

SGS, LLC v. Walga Ross Group JV, SIZ-2017-07-21-46 and SIZ-4-2017-028, SBA OHA (2017) (Successfully defended against protests for the award of a $36.5 million contract to the tribally-owned 8(a) Joint Venture, Walga Ross Group JV)