Judges

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Mark B. Williams, Chief Judge

Mark B. Williams has served on the Siletz Tribal Court for over 25 years. He was initially appointed in 1999 as the Gaming Court judge, hearing cases arising out of the Tribe’s gaming operations, as well as other assignments from time to time. In 2022, he was appointed to the position of Chief Judge.

Williams received his law degree from the University of Oregon School of Law in 1982. While in law school, he worked as a summer law clerk with DNA-Peoples Legal Services, on the Navajo Nation. After graduating, he was awarded a one-year fellowship to serve as community organizer and staff attorney with Anishinabe Legal Aid, an Indian Legal Services project located in Cass Lake, Minnesota within the boundaries of the Leech Lake Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe.

In 1984 Williams moved to Portland, Oregon to join Legal Aid as a staff attorney. Williams has held a number of senior positions in Portland, serving as Senior Assistant Multnomah County Counsel, Senior Assistant General Counsel for Metro, the Portland area regional government, Metro Chief Operating Officer, and General Manager for MERC, operator of the Oregon Convention Center, Portland’s Center for the Arts, and other facilities. He recently retired from his full-time position as OHSU’s Vice President for Campus Development and Strategic Policy Advisor the Knight Cancer Center. He is also the Honorary Consul Emeritus of the Republic of Moldova for Oregon and Washington and was formerly Dean of the Oregon Consular Corps.

Lisa Jill Dickinson, Associate Judge/District Court

Lisa Jill Dickinson has served as a Tribal Court Appellate Justice and Judge at various tribes since 2004. She has also served as the Northwest Tribal Court Judges’ Association President and currently serves on the National Judicial College Tribal Advisory Board. Judge Dickinson also serves as a Panel Arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association (AAA) on its commercial and consumer panels.

Ms. Dickinson is also a pro-tern Administrative Law Judge for the Washington State Office of Administrative Hearings on the Unemployment Insurance docket and has also served as a mediator on the HCA (Health Care Authority) docket. She is the owner of Dickinson Law Firm, PLLC, a business, probate and civil litigation firm in Spokane, Washington, and is a Thomson Reuters “Super Lawyer” for Business Law and is “AV” rated with Martindale Hubbell.

She has held numerous volunteer positions both in the profession as well as community boards and commissions. She currently serves in the American Bar Association House of Delegates, and in various other leadership positions in the ABA. She is the current Vice Chair for the Tort Trial Insurance Practice Section of the ABA. Her most rewarding projects are the one-on-one mentoring that she does for students and young lawyers. She firmly believes in service to the profession and to the community.

Gail Geiger, Associate Judge/District Court

Gail Geiger had a long career with the U.S. Trustee Program (USTP), a litigating component of the United States Department of Justice. She recently retired after 34 years. While with the USTP she served in various capacities including as the United States Trustee for Region 18 ( covering Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana); the Associate General Counsel for Consumer Practice in the USTP Executive Office in Washington, DC; the Special Assistant to the Office of General Counsel coordinating enforcement work against mortgage services and other creditors; the Assistant United States Trustee for Eugene, Oregon; and as Trial Attorney in Seattle, Washington. She was a part of a team of employees who received the U.S. Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service for their work on the $25 billion National Mortgage Settlement. She also received two Director’s awards including one for distinguished service in connection with civil enforcement work.

Ms. Geiger previously worked as an Assistant Attorney General for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands advising Executive Branch Agencies, and was in private practice in Seattle, Washington engaged in trial practice work.

Ms. Geiger was raised in Portland, OR and graduated cum laude from Willamette Law School in Salem, OR. She is a retired member of the Washington State Bar.

Hedi Hitchcock, J.d., Associate Judge/District Court

As a legal professional with over 28 years of experience serving Tribal Nations and Indigenous communities, Hedi brings a deep commitment to tribal sovereignty, intergovernmental collaboration, and culturally grounded legal advocacy. Her practice spans the full spectrum of Indian and tribal law, including tribal governance, corporate transactions, economic development, governmental affairs, land use, real estate, gaming, cannabis regulation, environmental and cultural resource protection, construction and procurement, financing, employment law, and compliance with federal and tribal regulatory frameworks.

Hedi has provided strategic counsel to Tribes, tribal housing authorities, tribal enterprises, economic development corporations, and regulatory agencies throughout Indian Country. Her work has helped build and sustain tribal governmental and economic infrastructures. She regularly advises on matters such as corporate entity formation, legislation and code drafting, land status and leasing, intergovernmental agreements, Small Business Administration 8(a) program, zoning, rights-of-way, intergovernmental agreements, and federal funding compliance and requirements.

Her distinguished public service includes roles as an U.S. DOJ Assistant United States Attorney, U.S. EPA Associate Regional Counsel, Tribal Prosecutor, Tribal Judge, Appellate Justice, and Indian law consultant.

As an enrolled member of the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, Hedi approaches each matter with cultural humility, legal precision, and an unwavering respect for the communities she serves. She is especially attuned to aligning legal strategies with tribal values and long-term development goals-particularly in complex, high-impact projects affecting tribal lands, sovereignty, and future generations.

Hedi currently serves as an Appellate Justice and Associate Judge for several tribes throughout the country. She also provides ongoing legal and consulting services to several tribal governments and national organizations. She holds a Juris Doctor from the University of North Dakota School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts from Saint Olaf College. She is licensed to practice in Minnesota, South Dakota, and Oregon.

Brett Kenney, Associate Judge/District Court

Brett Kenney is an attorney who has served Native Americans and Oregon’s restored tribes since 1992. He grew up near the Siletz Reservation and his mother taught at Siletz School for over 25 years. He currently serves as the general counsel to the Coquille Tribe. His professional missions are to empower Oregon’s restored tribes and their citizens to recover from the disastrous federal Termination policy, and to advance Native American governmental and individual sovereignty.