Wilson Pipestem, founding partner of Pipestem Law, has advocated for tribal nations and tribal citizens in courts and in the halls of Congress with a particular focus on defending tribal sovereignty and expanding tribal sovereign rights.
Wilson played a lead role in advocacy for the tribal provisions of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) reauthorization in 2013. That historic victory resulted in reaffirmation of sovereign rights of tribal nations to exercise criminal jurisdiction over non-Indians who commit domestic and dating violence acts in Indian country. VAWA 2013 is only third time in U.S. history that Congress restored inherent sovereign rights that the federal courts said had been extinguished.
Wilson served as lead counsel in the Osage Nation’s eleven-year litigation against the United States for mismanagement of Osage minerals royalties and investment returns from minerals production. The lawsuit resulting in a $380 million settlement for the Osage Nation, the largest settlement at the time for a single tribe against the United States.
After graduating from Stanford Law School in 1995, Wilson practiced law at a large Washington, D.C. law firm. He founded Pipestem Law in 1999, moving the primary office to Tulsa in 2013 to be closer to home. A proud Oklahoma State University alum, Wilson competed for OSU in track and cross country and was inducted into the OSU Hall of Fame in 2022. Wilson and his wife, Brenda Toineeta Pipestem, have five strong-minded children. Wilson is a citizen of the Otoe-Missouria Tribe and an Osage headright owner.