Zehava Zevit is an attorney in the Los Angeles office of Holland & Knight, where she practices in the firm's Indian Law Practice Group. Dr. Zevit represents Indian tribal governments in their dealings with state and federal governments; complex transactions; construction and financing matters; administrative matters; litigation; and government procurement and grants.
Specific focus areas of Dr. Zevit's practice include tribal economic development; federal governmental grants and contracts; taxation; tribal sovereignty; and gaming, including tribal, state and federal regulatory compliance. Dr. Zevit also represents tribes and tribal entities in litigation in federal and state courts, with an emphasis on sovereignty and jurisdictional questions, and has been instrumental in filing briefs in several important cases. These include the D.C. Circuit case of Colorado River Indian Tribes v. National Indian Gaming Commission, 466 F.3d 134 (D.C. Cir. 2006), a seminal case upholding tribal sovereignty against encroachment by federal agencies, and the recent Ninth Circuit case of Blue Lake Rancheria v. U.S., 653 F.3d 1112 (9th Cir. 2011), in which the tribe stopped the IRS from encroaching on tribal governmental tax benefits.
In addition, Dr. Zevit concentrates in California state campaign finance and conflict of interest law and provides counsel in this field to corporations and individuals nationwide, Indian tribes, and tribal and other public officials.