Amber Kennedy Madole

Law Librarian, Research Services, Indigenous Law and Policy, and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Law
Last Updated: December 5, 2024

Amber Madole is the Law Librarian for Research Services and Indigenous Law and Policy and an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Law at the USC Gould School of Law. In these roles, she teaches legal research courses and assists faculty and students with their research endeavors.

At USC Law, Madole serves as the Faculty Advisor to the Native American Law Students Association (NALLSA), studies tribal law issues, and coordinates lectures on Indigenous Law and Policy with the Center for Law, History, and Culture (CHLC).

Madole earned her law and MLIS degrees from UCLA and is active in several national organizations, including AALL’s Native Peoples Law Caucus, where she currently serves as chair, and AALL’s Spectrum Article of the Year Jury. She is also a member of the Southern California Association of Law Libraries (SCALL), where she has served on the executive board and chaired the Speakers Committee for the annual SCALL Institute. Currently, she chairs SCALL’s Grants Committee.

Madole received her undergraduate degree from Georgetown University, where she focused on immigration policy and regional studies at the Walsh School of Foreign Service. At UCLA Law, she served as an editor of the Indigenous Peoples’ Journal of Law, Culture & Resistance.

Dedicated to the study of Indigenous law and policy issues, Madole is the author of California Tribal Law in Henke’s California Law Guide. Her joint proposal advocating for the inclusion of tribal codes in the Bluebook has been adopted and is currently in the drafting stages. She is co-drafting the forthcoming Bluebook Rule 22, “The Law of Tribal Nations,” scheduled for release in the 2025 edition. This rule will provide long-overdue guidance on citing tribal constitutions, cases, and codes, along with updates to include examples of U.S. treaties with Tribal Nations.

Madole was awarded the 2024 AALL Spectrum Article of the Year for her article “Law Librarians for Indigenous-Inclusive Citation.”

She is a citizen of the Fort Sill Chiricahua Warm Springs Apache Tribe and a member of the State Bar of California.