Unalakleet’s Heidi Ivanoff receives Alaska Bar Association award

In an annual meeting last week, the Alaska Bar Association’s Historian’s Committee awarded Unalakleet Magistrate Judge Heidi Ivanoff the Judge Nora Guinn Award. Ivanoff, who was appointed magistrate in 1998, was nominated for the prize by three individuals in the region.

Ivanoff said she was “extremely surprised” to receive the award and was especially honored to have been nominated by two lawyers. Ivanoff explained that she singlehandedly runs the Unalakleet court, so not many people actually know what she does each day. “I practice in a bubble where only people who need to go to court know what I do,” she said.

However, Ivanoff left a positive impression upon the lawyers, who valued her ability to make legal jargon comprehensible for the individuals appearing in front of her. Ivanoff said that this explanation comes “organically” to her as a result of growing up in Unalakleet. “It’s very natural to me to know how people in rural Alaska understand things, and it’s not natural to know legalease.”

She had to go to law school to learn legal terms and her background allows her to translate this vocabulary in ways that typical rural Alaskans can relate to. Ivanoff added that she is happy to receive the award both because more people are now aware of what she does and because it draws attention to small courts in bush Alaska.

It is fitting that Ivanoff was nominated for her communication skills, because she said that her favorite aspect of the job is interacting with people. Such interaction is also what drew her to criminal law in the first place. When entering law school, Ivanoff said she did not think that she would go into criminal law. But after an internship she found that she enjoyed the problem solving, the fast pace and particularly the interpersonal interactions that come with working with clients. “It just seemed to click,” she said. Prior to taking the magistrate position, Ivanoff had been working as a public defender in Kotzebue. She did not initially plan on taking the job, but decided to return to Unalakleet to be closer to her family. “I didn’t think I would stay forever, but here I am,” she said.

Her knack for explanation makes Ivanoff an ideal candidate for the award because, according to the description on the Alaska Bar Association website, the Nora Guinn award is presented to an individual who “has made an extraordinary or sustained effort to assist Alaska’s Bush residents, especially its Native population.” More specifically, the award goes to an individual who has had to overcome language and cultural barriers in order to obtain justice through the legal system.

ABA Historians Committee Chair Marilyn May said that Ivanoff was one of three candidates for the award this year. “All of the nominees were excellent candidates, but we felt the nomination for Magistrate Judge Ivanoff was the strongest. It gave an excellent description of MJ Ivanoff’s dedication to her job and her community, and how she weaves the two together. Her knowledge of her community informs all of her work; and through her work, she brings personalized justice to her community.”

The Nora Guinn award was created in honor of former Bethel District Court Judge Nora Guinn. Guinn was the first Alaska Native judge in the state and one of the first female judges.