WELCOME, WELCOME, WELCOME a new Blog Editor, Ms. Carolyn Drouin, Esq.

I am quite pleased to announce that Ms. Carolyn Drouin has joined the blog as my fellow Blog Editor.

 

Carolyn M. Drouin is an Adjunct Instructor for the Law Advocates Program at Navajo Technical College in Crownpoint, Navajo Nation (NM) and the managing attorney of the DNA-People's Legal Services, Inc. Crownpoint Office.

After graduating from law school, Ms. Drouin moved to the Navajo Nation and served as a staff attorney in the Chinle DNA Office. There she assisted clients access relevant justice systems to address discrimination; secure legal protection for victims of abuse, assault, neglect, exploitation and fraud; help ensure economic stability and independence by protecting critical assets such as housing, cars, income, benefits, healthcare and educating clients to become economically self-sufficient and to avoid becoming trapped in a cycle of poverty. She was hired by Navajo Technical College in the spring of 2009 to teach Introduction to Law to students new to the Law Advocates Program. In August 2009, she was promoted to managing attorney and moved to manage her firm's Crownpoint office. She has found a slight niche in assisting the local silversmiths and craftspeople with taxation issues with both the state and federal governments. Since taking on the role as managing attorney, Carolyn has become a bit of a fixture in the Eastern Agency of the Navajo Nation. She is constantly on the road presenting at conferences, trainings, Chapter Houses, and Senior Centers on various legal issues that affect the local communities.  

Carolyn continues to teach for Navajo Technical College in the evenings and has taught Legal Research and Writing, Business Law, Advanced Business Law and Introduction to Law. Ms. Drouin’s classes are a hybrid; half of her students are physically present in her classroom at the main campus in Crownpoint and the other half attend class at the Chinle campus through a web conferencing system.

Prior to moving to the Navajo Nation, Ms. Drouin received her B.A., with distinction, from California State University at Monterey Bay. She was awarded the 2003 CSU Monterey Bay Presidential Award for Exemplary Student Achievement and gave the 2003 commencement valedictory address. Additionally, while attending CSU Monterey Bay, Ms. Drouin was selected and served as a Panetta Congressional Intern through Leon and Sylvia Panetta’s Public Policy Institute in Washington, D.C. She is a graduate of the Honors Lawyering Program at Golden Gate University School of Law, where she received her JD with a Specialization in Public Interest Law, with distinction, and was inducted into the Jesse W. Carter Society.

Carolyn is licensed to practice law in California, New Mexico, the Navajo Nation and before the United States Tax Court.

twp