Earl Mettler Earl Mettler founded the firm in 1982, and has handled serious personal injury, Indian law, employment termination, employee benefits and other substantial litigation since then. He graduated from Georgetown University Law Center in 1974, and previously worked as an Assistant Attorney General of South Dakota, and staff attorney and managing attorney for DNA People's Legal Services in Shiprock. Mr. Mettler has handled serious injury cases, including industrial accidents, occupational illness, medical malpractice and unsafe products. He has done extensive litigation arising out of injuries from unsafe workplaces and equipment in coal mining, power plant, pipeline and oilfield work. Mr. Mettler was active in representing former uranium miners in workers compensation claims involving lung disease, and worked for passage of the federal compensation program for miners. Long active in representation of Native Americans, Mr. Mettler represented groups of Native American job applicants in employment discrimination cases, and handled a class action for all Navajo individual Indian money account holders against the BIA. He has been successful in establishing federal court recognition of Navajo common law, and has handled cases establishing various precedents in the Navajo court system. He was an instructor of Navajo court advocacy at Diné College, and is the author of articles on Indian tribal sovereignty and on the representation of Native Americans in personal injury cases. With the growing importance of employer pension and benefits plans, Mr. Mettler has actively litigated claims for pension, health care and long-term disability benefits under ERISA. His article on the subrogation rights of ERISA plans was published in TRIAL magazine in 2000. Cases in which he obtained temporary court orders for critical healthcare coverage have received press coverage. He has obtained damages for family members claiming that treatment was wrongfully denied by an HMO. Stephen T. LeCuyer, of Counsel Stephen T. LeCuyer graduated with honors from the University of Michigan Law School. Before coming to the firm, he worked for DNA People's Legal Services, Inc., and lived in Chinle and Shiprock. Since December 2005, he has served on the legal staff of an Indian tribe. He continues as "of counsel" with the firm for ongoing litigation.