River focuses his practice on Alaska Native Law and Environmental & Natural Resources issues. Prior to joining Landye Bennett Blumstein, River clerked for the Honorable Dario Borghesan of the Alaska Supreme Court. In 2023, he graduated summa cum laude with an Environmental & Natural Resources Law Certificate from Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon. While in law school, River served as the Submissions Editor of the Lewis & Clark Law Review and the Secretary of the Portland National Lawyers Guild chapter. He was also an active member of the Native American Law Students Association on campus.
River’s professional experiences in law school included clerking for the Aleut Community of St. Paul Island Tribal Government and working as a summer associate at Kanji & Katzen, P.L.L.C. in Seattle. He also externed for the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission during the academic year.
Noah views the practice of law as an outlet for his natural curiosity about the most prominent issues facing Alaska at all levels of government – federal, tribal, state, or municipal. His practice focuses on Natural Resources Law, Fisheries Law, Indian and Alaska Native Law, Administrative Law, and Civil Litigation. He employs thorough research and quick thinking to serve his clients well.
Prior to joining Landye Bennett Blumstein, Noah served as an Assistant Attorney General for the Department of Law Civil Division, both as a Civil Division Fellow and in the Natural Resources Section. He also served as a law clerk for Justice Jennifer Stuart Henderson on the Alaska Supreme Court. Before he was an attorney, Noah worked for Alaska State Representative Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins in Sitka and Juneau.
Joseph Levesque represents Alaskan municipalities and private clients throughout the state. He believes in a simple philosophy that clients from every sector have the right to successful, competent, and effective legal services, and that the quality of those services should never differ according to the client’s size or standing within a community.
Having lived and represented parties in some of Alaska’s largest, smallest, and most remote communities, Joseph understands that the needs of his clients differ in as many ways as Alaska’s people. He is dedicated to ensuring that each of his clients’ particular interests guide the scope of their representation.
Doug is an experienced litigation and contract attorney. With over 25 years of experience in construction and construction law, Doug regularly represents general contractors, subcontractors, owners, and design professionals in all aspects of construction and development including litigation and dispute resolution. Doug has a master’s degree in construction engineering and management and has also been an adjunct professor in construction law at the University of Colorado. Doug also represents clients in a wide variety of litigation and disputes, including business disputes, land and real estate, and contracts.
Doug has a range of legal experience, including working in one of the largest firms in Alaska and western states as well as being a solo practitioner. This diverse background gives Doug valuable perspective for all sorts of legal issues – big and small.
Jackson loves the practice of law because he enjoys the everyday challenge of helping people solve problems big and small.
Jackson joined LBB with a breadth of experience, which he applies to representing the firm’s clients across diverse industries. Before becoming an attorney, he worked in Business Affairs in the entertainment industry, where he was involved in producing multiple Emmy Award-winning TV series. He also worked in-house at one of the country’s largest telecommunications companies, where he focused on real estate matters.
Jackson moved to Alaska to clerk for the Honorable Rachel Ahrens of the Alaska Superior Court at Valdez and the Honorable Bride Seifert of the Alaska Superior Court at Homer.
Ryan joined the firm in 2022. Originally from Fairbanks, Ryan attended the University of Colorado School of Law and practiced commercial real estate law in the Lower 48 before returning to Alaska. In addition, Ryan has a breadth of experience working in project management in academic and non-profit settings, and he also worked for the State of Alaska, Department of Natural Resources. Ryan’s practice includes real estate transactions, business law, working with Alaska Native corporations and other transactional work.
Alex joined the firm in 2019 and works in all areas of the firm’s practice. Prior to joining the firm, Alex served as a law clerk to the Honorable Yvonne Lamoureux of the Alaska Superior Court in Anchorage. While in law school Alex also interned for the Honorable Gregory Miller of the Alaska Superior Court in Anchorage, interned at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Anchorage, and worked as a summer law clerk at Landye Bennett Blumstein, LLP. Before pursuing a career in the law, Alex worked as a legislative aide in the Alaska State Legislature.
A member of the Washington and Alaska bars, Ben Spiess represents clients across the Pacific Northwest. Ben is a member of the real estate practice group. With a background in corporate law, he represents clients in all aspects of real estate transactions, including business formation, deal structuring, real estate purchase and sales, development, leasing, financing, business formation and structuring, mergers, equity and asset transactions, corporate reorganizations, and corporate governance.
Ben is experienced in structuring real estate investment partnerships, development joint ventures, syndications and all aspects of related securities law matters, including Rule 506 private placements. Ben also practices in the areas of land use and zoning, ANCSA, and public lands.
Ben is active in Arctic policy and development.
Michelle is a highly experienced attorney who has been practicing law in Alaska since 1986, with a focus on commercial collection and lender representation. Before entering private practice, she clerked for U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Herbert A. Ross from 1986 -1988 and served as a staff attorney then as lead counsel for FDIC’s Alaska Legal Department (1989-1993). Michelle represents private businesses, banks, and credit unions in large commercial collection matters and in bankruptcy cases, including defending preference claims.
Jennifer focuses her practice on business litigation and employment cases. Her recent commercial case experience includes an arbitration on behalf of a royalty owner that resulted in a $245 million award, an administrative hearing and subsequent appeals involving a significant state income tax dispute, and a variety of contract disputes and real property litigation. She has defended a range of employment law cases representing and counseling employers on discrimination and wage and hour issues in state and federal court, and before administrative agencies.
Jennifer has also been involved in class actions from both the plaintiffs’ and the defendants’ side, and has taken part in more than twenty trials, preliminary injunction hearings or complex administrative proceedings. In addition, she has successfully argued cases before the Ninth Circuit, and the state Supreme Courts in both Washington and Alaska.
Andy is an experienced litigator with a focus on natural resources, administrative law, and appellate law. He collaborates with his colleagues and clients to understand complex problems and to research effective solutions.
Andy has successfully litigated cases throughout Alaska on behalf of Alaska Native Corporations and Alaska Tribes, including cases involving subsistence hunting and fishing rights. He currently represents several Alaska Native entities in lawsuits against the State of Alaska seeking to protect customary and traditional uses of fish and game.
Before joining Landye Bennett Blumstein, Andy was a law clerk for the Alaska Supreme Court and worked as policy fellow in the U.S. Senate, focusing on natural resource issues in the West. He has a master’s degree in environmental policy from Oxford University and is a 2007 Harry S. Truman Scholar from Montana.
Sky litigates in the federal district courts, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Alaska Superior Courts and the Alaska Supreme Court, and appears before state and federal administrative regulatory boards and agencies. He advocates before the Alaska Legislature and the U.S. Congress and Executive Branch.
He has decades of experience representing Alaska Native tribes and tribal organizations, local rural governments and Native corporations on a wide variety of issues, including tribal and subsistence rights, Indian Child Welfare Act cases, natural resource protection and allocation, state and federal political and legislative actions, Native allotments and co-management opportunities.
Sky is an enrolled member of the Cheyenne River Lakota Tribe, Eagle Butte, South Dakota.
Lauren works with Alaska Native corporations, private entities, and other businesses in managing their corporate affairs, real estate transactions, Alaska Native law issues, mergers and acquisitions, and other transactional work. Lauren also works with tribes, municipalities, and individuals on a regular basis to meet their business and transactional needs.
Lauren has handled real estate transactions involving the purchase and sale, lease, and management of commercial and residential properties, medical office space, commercial condominiums, mixed-use properties, warehouses, and undeveloped land in rural Alaska. She also works on property matters involving lease-backs, trust lands, government-owned property, and the sale of real estate in conjunction with asset sales.
Prior to joining the firm, Lauren was a law clerk for the Honorable Deputy Presiding Judge Vanessa White of the Alaska Superior Court.
Matt guides clients through the challenges of business, government, and litigation in Alaska. He has a general civil litigation and general counsel practice, representing clients on various commercial, land, and corporate matters.
Matt’s practice focuses on Alaska Native, municipal, and land-related issues. He delivers both consistent litigation results and insightful and practical general counsel advice. His clients appreciate that he provides the highest quality legal advice on an efficient and cost-effective basis.
His practice frequently involves traveling to remote villages to assist his Alaska Native clients. He is devoted to clients and has the experience and foresight to help them through a variety of challenges common in Alaska.
Matt is a regular presenter on Alaska land and municipal law issues.
Karl’s practice emphasizes tax planning and advice, wills, trusts and probate administration, tax-exempt organizations, and Alaska Native law.
Karl is a past president of the Anchorage Estate Planning Council, and he is a frequent speaker on federal and state tax issues, estate planning and probate, and other topics.
He entered private practice in 2010 in Portland, Oregon, after receiving his LL.M. in taxation from New York University. Before attending NYU, Karl clerked for the Hon. Walter Edmonds on the Oregon Court of Appeals.
Bob focuses on representing local, regional, and national businesses respecting sales and acquisitions, security, lending, and other contractual relationships and commercial transactions; real estate sales, leasing, financing and development; corporate, LLC and partnership organization and operation; and bankruptcy. Many of his clients are Alaska Native corporations facing issues unique to Native corporations.
Bob has presented continuing education programs on ANCSA, commercial real estate leasing, secured transactions, and bankruptcy matters.
Bob created and maintains, as a primary resource for information about Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (“ANCSA”), the ANCSA Resource Center.
Josh works collaboratively with his clients to structure, negotiate and close commercial transactions, from the complex to the simple, in a practical and cost-effective manner geared to achieve his clients’ goals.
Josh advises his corporate and individual clients through all facets of commercial real estate, business and private equity transactions, including entity formation and organization, purchases and sales, and lending arrangements. He also works with Alaska Native corporations on their unique range of legal needs, including commercial and government contracting, land use, and shareholder issues.
Keeping an open mind to unique solutions, Anna approaches legal issues with logic and focus, whether in Alaska Native law, labor and employment law or in litigation. Anna’s practice focuses on Alaska Native, Tribal, and Municipal Law, Business Litigation, and Labor and Employment Law.
Anna is experienced in defending clients against liability claims. She has also represented Alaska tribes protecting fishing rights in federal court; represented local business in small claims actions, seeking full remuneration for their services; and assisted organizations in eviction and detainer cases.
Anna clerked for the Honorable Anna M. Moran of the Alaska Superior Court and worked in the Tulalip Tribal Court in Tulalip, Washington, defending tribal members against misdemeanor criminal charges.
With more than 30 years of experience, Bruce gets tremendous satisfaction from sharing success and accomplishment even in the most difficult cases. He takes pride in understanding, communicating and representing his clients’ interests with clarity and economy.
Bruce’s practice includes commercial litigation, creditor bankruptcy, appeals, banking, Alaska Native law, and real property litigation.
In Memoriam
LBB Partner 2000-2024
It is with deep sadness that we announce our partner and colleague Kim Dunn passed away in September 2024. Kim is deeply missed by her colleagues, clients, and friends.
