Shawn Watts

Judge Shawn K. Watts joined the KU Law lawyering faculty in 2018 and became a Lecturer of Law in January 2022. Watts supervises students in the Tribal Judicial Support Clinic, and teaches courses in Mediation Skills, Lawyering Skills and Federal Indian Law. He is also a district court judge for the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation.

Prior to KU Law, he taught at Columbia Law School in New York City where he was the Associate Director of the Mediation Program. He taught an Advanced Mediation Clinic and a Native American Peacemaking Clinic. He has been a visiting professor at both Yale Law School and National Taiwan University Law School in Taipei, Taiwan.

In his practice, Judge Watts mediates federal and state cases with an emphasis in employment discrimination cases. He is also a consultant with the National American Indian Court Judges Association specializing in helping tribal court programs to include traditional and customary justice practices.

In addition to his work with Indian tribes and tribal organizations, Judge Watts is also a lead trainer and formal partner for the United Nations Institute of Training and Research where he trains and advises world diplomats on the issues facing the world's indigenous peoples. He also provides the U.N. training and curriculum on conflict resolution, negotiation, and peace dialogue.

A Citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, Judge Watts graduated from Columbia Law School, where he won the Jane Marks Murphy Prize for clinical advocacy, was a Strine Fellow, a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, and managing editor of Columbia Law’s Journal of Law and Social Problems. While in law school, he served as the president of the National Native American Law Students Association.

Before he began teaching, Judge Watts was an associate in the finance and bankruptcy practice group at the New York office of Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton, where — in addition to representing both creditors and debtors in multimillion-dollar bankruptcies — he specialized in federal Indian law and tribal finance.

Education —

• J.D., Columbia University School of Law, 2012
• B.A., St. John's College, 2000

Teaching —

Lawyering Skills, Mediation Skills Worskhop, Federal Indian Law, Mediation Clinic

Career History

University of Kansas School of Law, Clinical Associate Professor, 2018-present; Mediation Clinic at Columbia Law School, Lecturer in Law and Associate Director, 2013-present; Yale Law School, Visiting Clinical Lecturer in Law, 2016-2017; National Taiwan University Law School, Visiting Professor of Law, 2017-2018; United Nations, Recognized Expert in Mediation and Conflict Resolution, 2016-present; Native American Rights Fund, Peacemaking Advisory Board Member, Teaching Faculty, 2014-present; Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP, Associate, Tribal and Indian Law, Finance and Bankruptcy, 2011-2013

Selected Publications —

• “Indian Law Chapter,” Kansas Bar Association Annual Survey of Law, 2020.
• “Choosing a Mediator: A Truth You Can Handle,” Journal of the Kansas Bar Association, February 2019.
• “The Role of Language Interpretation in Providing a Quality Mediation Process,” Contemporary Asia Arbitration Journal, Vol. 9, No. 2, pp. 301-316, November 2016.
• Contributing Editor for the Clinical Law Prof Blog.
• "The Sustained Attack on Tribal Sovereign Immunity - The Increased Application of the Ex Parte Young Doctrine to Tribal Government Officers," California Indian Law Association Newsletter, Spring 2013.
• "Are Tribal Corps. Eligible for Bankruptcy Protection?" Law360, March 13, 2013.
• "Committee's Attack Upon Lender's Make-Whole Premium Denied," Finance and Bankruptcy Blog, June 27, 2013.