Taino Palermo

Taino Palermo
Taino PalermoClinical Professor of LawDirector, Business Law Clinic

Contact Information

tpalermo@rwu.eduSSRN Author PageCurriculum Vitae

Professor Taino J. Palermo is the Director of the Business Law Clinic, where he supervises student attorneys providing free transactional legal services to small businesses and nonprofit organizations. His teaching and practice focus on transactional lawyering, nonprofit and business law, federal Indian law, tribal sovereignty, and Indigenous rights.

Professor Palermo is also the Co-Founder of the Center for Indigenous Rights, where he directs legal services and serves as lead counsel assisting Indigenous communities with legal and policy matters before state, federal, and international bodies. He also serves as Faculty Advisor for the American Indian Law Student Association. Before joining the full-time faculty, he practiced at Barton Gilman LLP, advising schools, nonprofit organizations, businesses, and other institutional clients on education law, nonprofit law, business operations, governance, and general counsel matters. He previously served as a judicial extern to the Honorable William E. Smith of the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island.

Before entering legal practice, Professor Palermo worked extensively in higher education, community development, organizational leadership, and program design. He previously served as a Program Director at Roger Williams University and is a founding faculty member of College Unbound. His scholarship examines federal Indian law, tribal sovereignty, Indigenous land rights, constitutional law, and the relationship between law and social institutions.

Books

Chapter 1: Colonization, Race and the foundations of American law. (Aspen Publishing, 2025)

Articles

From Tribal Sovereignty to Incomplete Allegiance: Trump v. Barbara and the Fragility of Birthright Citizenship, Roger Williams University Law Review (forthcoming 2027).

Returning Home and Restoring Trust: A Legal Framework for Federally Non-Recognized Tribal Nations To Acquire Ancestral Lands In Fee Simple, Roger Williams University Law Review Vol. 27 (Fall 2022)

The Erosion of Trust: Arizona v. Navajo, Climate Change, and the Potential Abrogation of Tribal Water Rights, Roger Williams University Law Review Vol. 30:1 (Spring 2023)

Close Course Type Descriptions

Course Types

We have classified RWU Law classes under the following headers. One of the following course types will be attached to each course which will allow students to narrow down their search while looking for classes.

Core Course

Students in the first and second year are required to take classes covering the following aspects of the law—contracts, torts, property, criminal law, civil procedure, and constitutional law, evidence, and professional responsibility.  Along with these aspects, the core curriculum will develop legal reasoning skills.

Elective

After finishing the core curriculum the remaining coursework toward the degree is completed through upper level elective courses.  Students can choose courses that peak their interests or courses that go along with the track they are following.

Seminar

Seminars are classes where teachers and small groups of students focus on a specific topic and the students complete a substantial research paper.

Clinics/Externships

Inhouse Clinics and Clinical Externships legal education is law school training in which students participate in client representation under the supervision of a practicing attorney or law professor.  RWU Law's Clinical Programs offer unique and effective learning opportunities and the opportunity for practical experience while still in law school.