Faculty
Hilary C. Tompkins
Ms. Tompkins was born in Zuni, New Mexico and is an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation. She was adopted at birth and raised in Southern New Jersey.
From 2005 to 2008 Ms. Tompkins served as chief counsel to Governor Bill Richardson for the State of New Mexico and is believed to be the first Native American to have served in that position. Ms. Tompkins previously had served as deputy counsel to the Governor from the start of his administration.
Prior to her prestigious chief counsel appointment, Ms. Tompkins worked in the private sector representing pueblos and tribes. Ms. Tompkins began her law career as an honor program trial attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. where she handled civil prosecutions in environmental cases nationwide. She also served as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn, New York, where she was lead counsel for a number of civil lawsuits in federal court.
Before becoming a lawyer, Ms. Tompkins worked for the Navajo Nation Department of Justice as a tribal court advocate after passing the Navajo Nation bar exam.
Ms. Tompkins received her juris doctorate degree from Stanford University in 1996 and a bachelor's degree from Dartmouth College in 1990.
