Randolph Barnhouse, who we know as Dolph, is celebrating his fortieth-year practicing law. During those four decades he has worked with clients in dozens of appeals before the highest courts in New Mexico, Arizona and New York, in Courts of Appeals for five of the federal circuits, and won a case he argued before the United States Supreme Court. He spent years working in legal services for Native Americans with limited financial resources, and now focuses his practice on representing Tribes, their business entities, and Native individuals with matters involving highly regulated issues including inter-tribal trade, restrictions on state regulation of sovereign tribal activities, and federal regulatory oversight. Dolph worked as Director of DNA – People’s Legal Services and as Director of 1000 Friends of New Mexico. At DNA he established what is now known as the Native American Disability Law Center, worked for passage of Domestic Violence legislation by the Navajo Nation, and served on the boards of national organizations committed to improving access to Justice.
Dolph has dedicated time to public service throughout his career, including serving as an officer in the United States Naval Reserve, a judge for the Southwest Intertribal Court of Appeals, a Commissioner with the New Mexico Bar Association, committee chair with the Navajo Nation Bar Association, community representative on the Bureau of Land Management’s New Mexico Resource Advisory Board. He has worked to help address domestic violence through representation of S.A.F.E. House in Albuquerque and the New Mexico Coalition Against Domestic Violence, and to address food insecurity as one of the initial founders of the Jim Harlin Community Pantry in Gallup New Mexico. Dolph has been honored for his work, receiving the Equal Access to Justice, Inc. Award in 2020, the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government William S. Dixon First Amendment Freedom Award in 2012, the State Bar of New Mexico’s Courageous Advocacy Award in 2003, and the UNM Alumni Association Zia Award 2001.
Dolph holds a BA from the University of New Mexico where he graduated with distinction, Magna Cum Laude in General Honors and Phi Beta Kapp. He holds a JD from the University of New Mexico, where he graduated Cum Laude and Order of the Coif. and he holds an MBA, Summa Cum Laude, from the University of New Mexico
He is licensed to practice law in New Mexico, Arizona and Washington and in a number of federal jurisdictions throughout the United States.