Kathryn (Kate) E. Fort is the Director of Clinics at Michigan State University College of Law and runs the Indian Law Clinic, where she teaches the Clinic class and other classes in federal Indian law. In 2015, she started the Indian Child Welfare Act Appellate Project, which represents tribes in complex ICWA litigation across the country. She is the author of American Indian Children and the Law, published by Carolina Academic Press. Prof. Fort has researched and written extensively on the Indian Child Welfare Act. Her publications include articles in the Harvard Public Health Review, George Mason Law Review, Family Law Quarterly, Saint Louis University Law Journal, American Indian Law Review as well as chapters in Critical Race Judgements (Cambridge University Press, 2022) and Child Welfare Law and Practice (National Assoc. of Counsel for Children, 2023), both with Matthew L.M. Fletcher. She co-edited Facing the Future: The Indian Child Welfare Act at 30 (Michigan State University Press 2009) and she is a contributing editor to the Cohen’s Handbook of Federal Indian Law. She is an original contributor to the Indian law blog, Turtle Talk. Prof. Fort has provided direct representation to tribes in the Washington, Colorado, and Michigan Supreme Courts, the Ohio, Illinois, and Tennessee Court of Appeals, the Second, Fourth, Fifth, Eighth, and Ninth U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals, as well as the United States Supreme Court. More recently she obtained significant funding to start the Tribal Appellate Clerk Project which, as part of the Indian Law Clinic, allows law students to assist tribal appellate courts by providing research and memos on appellate tribal cases.
Prof. Fort graduated magna cum laude in from Michigan State University College of Law with the Certificate in Indigenous Law and is licensed to practice law in Michigan. She received her B.A. in History with honors from Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia.
Download Curriculum Vitae (PDF)
J.D. Michigan State University College of Law
B.A. Hollins University
Law Faculty Repository »
American Indian Child Welfare and the Law: Cases and Materials, Carolina Academic Press (2nd ed. forthcoming 2024)
The Road to Brackeen: Defending ICWA 2013-2023, 72 American U. L. Rev. 1673 (2023)
The Indian Child Welfare Act in the Brackeen Years, 27 Juvenile & Family Court J. 9 (2023), with Adrian T. Smith.
After Brackeen: Funding Tribal Child Protection Systems, 56 Family L. Q. 191 (2023)
Intimate Choice and Autonomy: Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl, with Matthew L.M. Fletcher, in Critical Race Judgments: Rewritten U.S. Court Opinions on Race and the Law, Cambridge University Press (2022)
The Indian Child Welfare Act in Child Welfare Law and Practice (Donald N. Duquette et al. eds., 4th ed. 2022), with Matthew L.M. Fletcher
Indian Child Welfare Act Annual Case Law Update and Commentary, with Adrian T. Smith, 8 Am. Indian L. J. 2 (2020)
American Indian Child Welfare and the Law: Cases and Materials, Carolina Academic Press (2019)
Indian Child Welfare Act Annual Case Law Update and Commentary, with Adrian T. Smith, 7 Am. Indian L. J. 2 (2019)
Indian Child Welfare Act Annual Case Law Update and Commentary, with Adrian T. Smith, 6 Am. Indian L. J. 2 (2018)
The Indian Child Welfare Act in Child Welfare Law and Practice 311 (Donald N. Duquette et al. eds., 3rd ed. 2016), co-authored with Matthew L.M. Fletcher
The Invisible Families: Child Welfare and American Indian Active Duty and Veteran Families, co-authored with Peter S. Vicaire, 62 Federal Lawyer 40 (April 2015)
American Indian Children & the Law
(This course replaced Advanced Topics in Indian Law: Indian Child Welfare Act) A focus on American Indian children and the law, including the implementation, interpretation and understanding of the federal Indian Child Welfare Act (ICWA) and other state ICWA laws. ICWA, a federal statute interpreted almost entirely in state courts, applies to all terminations of parental rights if the child involved is an Indian child under the law's definition. Attorneys and social workers need to know when ICWA applies and how the application of ICWA makes for a fundamentally different family law case. In addition, this course will cover tribal law and children, and the role of international law and the rights of American Indian children.
Indian Law Clinic I
This course provides students with the opportunity to work the environment of a small law firm dedicated to the practice of indigenous law. Students in the Clinic conduct legal research and write briefs for appellate cases, research legal matters for tribes, and develop policy papers for tribal governments and organizations.
Indian Law Clinic II
A continuation of Indian Law Clinic I.
