Alumna Carves Niche as Fashion and Indigenous Rights Lawyer

Seattle Academy Alumna Rachel Tobias ’94 is a fashion and Indigenous rights lawyer working at Galanda Broadman PLLC, an Indigenous rights law firm in Seattle. Their client list includes tribes in Oregon and Arizona, and discreet projects with several Washington tribes. And now, thanks to Rachel, they offer their expertise in business development for Indigenous artists and designers and the preservation of Tribal cultural assets. 

“Everyone in the firm has a unique area of expertise, and I brought my own background in fashion law,” says Rachel, who has been with the firm for just under a year. Rachel now represents individuals, enterprises and Tribal governments on economic development and related issues. Basically, fashion designers, photographers, and anyone in creative industries. “I think when it comes to principles of decolonization, fashion is a very capitalist industry to start with. It is built around colonized ideas and continues to drive neo-colonization around the world.” 

Rachel channels this recognition of structural inequity by focusing her degree on Indigenous communities and creative entrepreneurs. “When it comes down to it, Indigenous entrepreneurs begin further back from the start line than their non-Indigenous counterparts. It is a matter of resources and education; and a matter of the industry being willing to give them a chance.” 

“We must decolonize the way the industry works,” explains Rachel, “and not just for Indigenous artists. Artists in general are not in a great position to argue against corporations. Entrepreneurs should know their rights going into a venture: how to negotiate a contract; how to be comfortable saying they are worth more than a low dollar amount. All artists and designers deal with this, it is not particular to Indigenous people,” Rachel says. 

Rachel has worked on some intellectual property litigation where trademarks are infringed. She also specializes in artists and entrepreneurs starting off and establishing businesses. Her guiding principle is based on the question of equity. “For the people who are just starting out, how can I help them overcome the extra barriers that are in their way — just to even get to the place where another person might be to get started.”

Rachel received an LL.M. in fashion law at Fordham University School of Law and worked with designers in New York for several years, but explained that “once the pandemic hit, my practice fell apart in New York, and I moved back here to Seattle.”

Rachel also has experience in criminal defense and family law, where she got a job out of law school as an Indian Child Welfare Attorney and worked from 2003-2015. “My very first job was representing social services for the Quinault Indian Nation,” says Rachel, who lived right outside the reservation and commuted for work. After that, she had clients from the Tulalip, Skokomish, Puyallup, and Suquamish Tribes, as well as others during her time as a public defender in King County and Tulalip Tribal Courts, and in private practice after that. “I went to the University of New Mexico School of Law,” explains Rachel, “which includes an extensive Indian Law component in their curriculum. I was also brought up in Seattle, and my mom and dad appreciated tribal art. My youth included awareness of Indigenous culture.” 

Growing up, Rachel did not want to be a lawyer. “I had convinced everyone that I wanted to be a truck driver because I wanted to see the world,” laughs Rachel. “Regardless, Seattle Academy absolutely set me on a path that has allowed me to do what I am doing now. And I think if students are interested in public service, leadership, and social betterment, getting a law degree is a great thing to have.” 

Long term, Rachel would love to put together an incubator program for Indigenous artists; a space that helps new business owners build and accelerate their ventures. “I would like it to house mentors to help with all that encapsulates the business side.”

Rachel lives in Shoreline with her husband, Ken Ballard, and their dogs, Whiskey and Rudy.