Jody A. Cummings

Mr. Cummings, an environmental lawyer, serves as the General Counsel of the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation, headquartered on the tribe’s reservation at Mashantucket, CT where he oversees the Office of Legal Counsel, which handles all legal services for the Nation and its business enterprises.  He leads the Nation’s Government Affairs Department, which is responsible for development and implementation of the Nation’s federal and state government affairs strategies, including but not limited to all of its legislative and regulatory advocacy.  Earlier Mr. Cummings was a partner at Steptoe & Johnson LLP, Washington, D.C., where he represented tribes, intertribal organizations, and other entities doing business in Indian country on a range of federal Indian law issues, land acquisition and use matters, economic development initiatives, natural resources development, tribal consultation for federal permitting, Indian gaming, and tribal recognition. He provided strategic and tactical advice to clients concerning federal agency rulemakings and other federal agency decision-making activities. He advised corporate and tribal clients on federal permitting issues and federal agency approvals arising in connection with National Environmental Policy Act and National Historic Preservation Act reviews, including Section 106 consultation issues.  

During his government career, Jody was the Deputy Solicitor for Indian Affairs at the US Department of the Interior.  Jody is an enrolled member of the Lumbee Tribal Nation, which has a substantial population in Baltimore, as well as in North Carolina.  Jody works for the benefit of the Nation especially seeking its formal recognition by the US government.  Jody’s undergraduate degree is from Duke University and his law degree is from Columbia University.