Amber Kennedy Madole

Amber Kennedy Madole serves as Law Librarian for Research Services and Indigenous Law and Policy and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Law at USC Gould School of Law, University of Southern California. A citizen of the Fort Sill Chiricahua Warm Springs Apache Tribe and member of the State Bar of California, she bridges academic scholarship with tribal advocacy.

Her educational background includes:

• J.D. and MLIS from UCLA
• Undergraduate degree from Georgetown University

Madole's research pioneers Indigenous legal scholarship through tribal law integration, citation reform, and curriculum development. Her work establishes foundational frameworks for recognizing tribal sovereignty in legal academia, notably through Bluebook Rule 22 adoption. She examines intersections of artificial intelligence regulation, intellectual property systems, and Indigenous knowledge protection.

Her scholarly trajectory reveals increasing focus on institutionalizing tribal law within legal education, with recent publications driving concrete changes in citation standards, curriculum design, and cross-cultural legal understanding. Key themes include decolonizing legal research methodologies and developing practical frameworks for tribal-state legal coordination.

Major recognitions include:

• AALL Spectrum Article of the Year Award (2024)
• 2025 ALL-SIS Outstanding Article Award
• 2025 Paul Gatz RIPS-SIS Publication Award
• 2025 AALS Early Career Teaching and Public Service Award

Madole advises the Native American Law Students Association (NALLSA) and teaches legal research courses while chairing SCALL's Grants Committee. Her national leadership includes chairing AALL's Native Peoples Law Caucus and serving on the Spectrum Article Jury.

She coordinates the Center for Law, History, and Culture's Indigenous Law lecture series and leads national initiatives through AALL and SCALL to advance tribal law accessibility and librarian advocacy.