Samuel J. Fortier, Partner

Mr. Fortier  has concentrated in the area of ANCSA and Federal Indian law since his admission to the Alaska Bar in 1982, and represents village corporations and tribes throughout Alaska. His practice includes  corporate, environmental and natural resources legal matters, including fisheries-related issues and complex tort litigation. Fortier received his juris doctorate, magna cum laude from Gonzaga University in 1982. Mr. Fortier is admitted to practice before the Federal District Court, D. Alaska, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the US Court of Claims, the Federal Circuit and the United States Supreme Court. 

The firm has practiced and has been admitted before a variety of forums, including:

• the United States Supreme Court
  
• the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals
  
• the Federal Court of Claims
  
• the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
  
• the Alaska State court system
  
• the U.S. District Court (Alaska), and
  
• various federal, state and municipal administrative bodies. 
  

Naomi Palosaari

Dr. Palosaari graduated with honors from the University of Oklahoma College of Law in 2017 with a Juris Doctorate and certificates in American Indian Law and Natural Resources Law. During law school, she clerked with Sonosky Chambers Sachse Miller and Munson in Anchorage, served in the University of Oklahoma’s International Human Rights Clinic in Suriname, and was a teaching assistant for the Master of Legal Studies in Indigenous People’s Law program. She was also the Articles Development Editor for the American Indian Law Review. After graduation, she served as Tribal Attorney for Sitka Tribe of Alaska until she joined the firm in the spring of 2019. Much of her work as tribal attorney and law clerk focused on drafting and revising tribal organic documents, policies, and procedures; zealously representing the tribe through government-to-government meetings, negotiations, and advocacy; and providing legal support to the tribal court. She is admitted to practice in Alaska, Washington, the Alaska Federal District Court, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the U.S. Court of Claims, and the Sitka Tribal Court.

Naomi was the first in her family to go to college, where she earned an M.A. and Ph.D. in linguistics before beginning a career in law. Her work focused on Native American language documentation and revitalization. She first became interested in law through her language revitalization work with tribes who faced issues of access and protection of Traditional Knowledge. She continues to develop that interest, publishing an article in the American Indian Law Review on intellectual property rights and informed consent in Native communities and drafting ordinances and policies on tribal regulation of research. Other areas of interest include wills and estates, protection of archeological and cultural sites, natural resources protection, trust and restricted property, and mediation. She has completed a 40-hour training on mediation and is a member of the Native Law and Mediation and Arbitration Sections of the Alaska Bar. 

Partners of the Firm

About Our Firm

Associate Attorneys

Dagmar C. Mikko, Partner
Ms. Mikko participates in the firm as its managing partner and emphasizes tort law work. Prior to joining the firm, she was an Assistant Municipal Prosecutor with the Anchorage Municipal Prosecutors Office. Mikko received her juris doctorate degree from Lewis & Clark, Northwestern School of Law.

FORTIER & MIKKO, P.C.

 Mr. Fortier is also active in programs such as the Alaska Pro Bono Panel, the Criminal Justice Act Panel, the Alaska Native Justice Center Outreach Clinics, and workshops at the regional and village levels pertaining to corporate responsibility, land protection, trespass control, and protection of archeological and cultural sites. He has written a number of manuals on village corporation management, including: Probate and Gifting of Stock, Village Corporation Governance, ANCSA Land Policies and Procedures, and Homesite Progams Under ANILCA and ANCSA.

Attorneys at Law

Losivale T. Talamaivao
Ms. Talamaivao is Office Manager and litigation paralegal. She has over 23 years of legal experience. Talamaivao is active in the affairs of the Anchorage Samoan Community.

Meggie Haydu

Ms. Haydu is the firm's corporate legal assistant. Ms. Haydu was born and raised in Craig, Alaska, and graduated from  the University of Alaska, Fairbanks where she majored in Psychology with a minor in business. Ms. Haydu has been with the firm since 2016