Tammy J. Swanson

Tammy is a partner at Swanson, Drobnick & Tousey and practices in the areas of family law, child protection and Federal Indian Law including the Indian Child Welfare Act. Tammy is a zealous advocate for her clients and was the 2008 Advocate of the Year for the Minnesota Fathers & Families Network. Her legal career has been devoted to protecting the best interests of children and the rights of parents and tribes. Prior to the founding of the firm in 2003, Tammy worked as staff attorney and later Director of Litigation at the Indian Child Welfare Law Center, a non-profit public defense organization that represents families in child protection cases governed by the Indian Child Welfare Act. She is also a qualified mediator for all types of family law cases.

Tammy brings not only a courtroom perspective to her cases, but a judicial one as well. Tammy began her legal career as law clerk to the Hon. Isabel Gomez in the Fourth Judicial District. She then went on to serve as Chief Judge of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe Court of Appeals and Associate Appellate Judge for the Prairie Island Indian Community. Tammy currently serves as Special Magistrate for the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Tribal Court.

Tammy Swanson is affiliated with the White Earth Band of Ojibwe Indians. She holds a B.A. in Psychology and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Minnesota. Tammy is admitted to the Supreme Court of Minnesota, and has practiced in the following tribal courts: Prairie Island Indian Community, Shakopee Mdewakanton Indian Sioux, Upper Sioux Community, Lower Sioux Community, Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, and White Earth Band of Ojibwe. Tammy is a member of the Minnesota American Indian Bar Association.