The Honorable
Tammi Lambert (2016-2026)
Tribal Court
Former Tribal Judge Tammi Lambert is an enrolled member of the Jicarilla Apache Nation, Ollero Clan, and currently serves as Government Affairs Director for the Pueblo of Laguna.
For nearly a decade, she served as Presiding Tribal Court Judge for the Pueblo of Santa Ana and has also presided as a pro tem judge for the Pueblo of Tesuque, Pueblo de San Ildefonso, and the Jicarilla Apache Nation.
Judge Lambert earned her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of New Mexico in 1996 and her Juris Doctor from the University of New Mexico School of Law in 1999, where she also received a Certificate in Indian Law. She began her legal career as a legal aid attorney with Community and Indian Legal Services (now Legal Aid, Inc.), later establishing and leading a successful private law practice. She closed her practice following her appointment by the Governor of New Mexico to serve as a policy advisor and to lead a statewide office.
From 2004 to 2008, she served as Director of the Governor’s Office of Victim Advocacy. She then served as General Counsel for the New Mexico Indian Affairs Department from 2008 to 2010. From 2011 to 2015, she served as General Counsel and Government Affairs Director for the Pueblo of Laguna before returning to that office in her current role.
In 2021, Judge Lambert earned a Master’s degree in Consciousness Studies and a Certificate in Ministry. She is currently on leave from her post as a licensed minister with the Rio Grande Center for Spiritual Living.
Her professional excellence has been recognized with several honors, including the Albuquerque Women’s Bar Association’s Power and Caring Award (2004) and the Mothers Against Drunk Driving New Mexico Community Champion Award (2019) for her work with the Pueblo of Santa Ana. In 2023, the New Mexico Supreme Court appointed her Tribal Co-Chair of the New Mexico Tribal-State Judicial Consortium, where she served until 2025.
Judge Lambert is guided by a commitment to leadership and transformation within tribal justice systems—advancing sovereignty, fairness, justice, and spaces for healing.
