Native American

July 03, 2025
139 EPA Workers Put On Leave For Letter Critical Of Trump

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency confirmed Thursday that it had placed 139 employees on administrative leave after they signed onto a letter criticizing the Trump administration's policies as undermining the agency's "mission of protecting human health and the environment."
July 03, 2025
Youths Urge 9th Circ. To Revive Federal Equal Protection Case

A group of youths is asking the Ninth Circuit to revive its lawsuit alleging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Office of Management and Budget are violating the youngsters' constitutional rights by not properly protecting them from climate change.
July 03, 2025
Navajo Nation's Bid To Block Lease Ban Put On 90-Day Hold

The Navajo Nation's bid to block a Biden administration order that withdrew U.S. land from new mineral leasing and development near a historic site has been paused after the parties said a recent presidential executive order could moot the dispute, a New Mexico federal judge said.
July 03, 2025
Circuit-By-Circuit Recap: Justices Send Message To Outliers

It was a tough term at the U.S. Supreme Court for two very different circuits — one solidly liberal, one solidly conservative — that had their rulings overturned in eye-popping numbers. But it was another impressive year for a relatively moderate circuit that appears increasingly simpatico with the high court.
July 03, 2025
The Moments That Shaped The Universal Injunction Case

The U.S. Supreme Court voted along ideological lines when it hindered the ability of federal district court judges to issue nationwide pauses on presidential policies, but that outcome didn't seem like a foregone conclusion during oral arguments earlier this year. What do the colloquies suggest about the justices' thinking? Here are some moments that may have swayed them.
July 03, 2025
Pacific Seafood Faces CWA Suit For Alleged Permit Violations

The Center for Food Safety and Wild Fish Conservancy hit Pacific Seafood Aquaculture LLC with a Clean Water Act citizen suit alleging it has failed to comply with permit terms for three Columbia River net pen facilities, each producing more than 20,000 pounds of rainbow trout annually.
July 03, 2025
The Firms That Won Big At The Supreme Court

The number of law firms juggling three or more arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court this past term nearly doubled from the number of firms that could make that claim last term.
July 03, 2025
Residents Urge Judge To Redo Ruling Backing Alaska Casino

A group of Anchorage, Alaska, residents opposed to a plan to build a casino urged a federal judge to reconsider a ruling finding the Native Village of Eklutna has sovereign immunity and can't face a lawsuit seeking to block the development plan.
July 03, 2025
Breaking Down The Vote: The High Court Term In Review

The U.S. Supreme Court once again waited until the term's closing weeks — and even hours — to issue some of its most anticipated and divided decisions.
July 02, 2025
Energy Firm Says Tribal Nonprofit Trade Secret Suit Too Vague

An energy infrastructure consulting firm called on an Oregon federal judge to throw out a Native American nonprofit's lawsuit alleging the firm's founder and tribal liaison misappropriated its trade secrets, saying the nonprofit has failed to identify the trade secrets with any particularity.
July 02, 2025
High Court Case Tops List of Securities Appeals To Watch

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to take up at least one shareholder's lawsuit when it reopens its doors in October, and securities attorneys from both the plaintiff and defense bars will be watching that appeal and several others as the year moves forward.
July 02, 2025
Okla. Justices Say Tribal Citizen Must Pay State Income Taxes

Oklahoma's high court upheld a decision to deny a state tax-exempt status for a member of the Muscogee (Creek) Nation, saying that a 2020 U.S. Supreme Court decision affirming the boundaries of the tribe's reservation does not apply in the dispute.
July 02, 2025
Wash. Tribal Warrants Gain Statewide Reach Under New Law

A Washington law that took effect this month will allow its state police to enforce tribal warrants, a move that legislators say closes a jurisdictional gap that often allowed individuals who committed crimes on Indigenous lands to evade prosecution by fleeing to state property.
July 02, 2025
The Funniest Moments Of The Supreme Court's Term

After justices and oral advocates spent much of an argument pummeling a lower court's writing talents, one attorney suggested it might be time to move on — only to be told the drubbing had barely begun. Here, Law360 showcases the standout jests and wisecracks from the 2024-25 U.S. Supreme Court term.
July 01, 2025
The Sharpest Dissents From The Supreme Court Term

The term's sharpest dissents often looked beyond perceived flaws in majority reasoning to raise existential concerns about the role and future of the court, with the justices accusing one another of rewarding executive branch lawlessness, harming faith in the judiciary and threatening democracy, sometimes on an emergency basis with little briefing or explanation.
July 01, 2025
All Eyes On Congress After FCC Subsidy's High Court Win

Supporters of the Federal Communications Commission's subsidies for phone and broadband service notched a clear win at the U.S. Supreme Court last week when justices upheld the Universal Service Fund's levy on telecom companies, but lawmakers now face pressure to beef up the $9 billion program's revenue sources.
July 01, 2025
Justices Face Busy Summer After Nixing Universal Injunctions

The U.S. Supreme Court's decision to limit nationwide injunctions was one of its biggest rulings of the term — a finding the court is likely going to be dealing with all summer. Here, Law360 takes a look at the decision, how it and other cases on the emergency docket overshadowed much of the court's other work, and what it all means for the months to come.
July 01, 2025
State Of 2025 Energy Dealmaking: Midyear Report

Energy dealmaking has been roiled by drastic policy shifts under President Donald Trump and his Republican allies in Congress. Here, Law360 looks at factors that are causing investors to be cautious in some instances and rush to finalize projects in others.
July 01, 2025
Conn. Tribe Fights State's Bid To Halt 80-Acre Land Transfer

The Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation is fighting an emergency motion by Connecticut to halt the U.S. Department of the Interior's transfer of 80 acres into trust for the federally recognized tribe, saying the state fails to establish that a stay is necessary.
July 01, 2025
ND, Tribes Spar Over High Court Order In 8th Circ. Voting Row

Two Indigenous tribes and North Dakota's secretary of state are feuding in the Eighth Circuit about how much weight a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that found a Planned Parenthood patient doesn't have a private right to sue South Carolina carries over a bid to rehear a voting rights dispute.
June 30, 2025
Alaskan Tribe Found Immune In Residents' Casino Fight

A federal judge has found that the Native Village of Eklutna is a required party in a lawsuit by Anchorage residents who oppose the construction of a 58,000-square-foot casino, but has simultaneously ruled the tribe can't be joined in the litigation due to its sovereign immunity.
June 30, 2025
DOJ Says Over 300 Charged In $14.6B Healthcare Fraud Sting

A healthcare fraud operation conducted by federal and state law enforcement groups netted more than 300 defendants in a slew of schemes amounting to $14.6 billion in potential false claims, the Justice Department announced Monday.
June 30, 2025
Supreme Court Won't Take On CWA Suit Over Wash. Port Regs

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to wade into a dispute between a Washington state port and an environmental group over whether citizen suits seeking to enforce state permitting conditions that go beyond the Clean Water Act can proceed in federal court.
June 30, 2025
Justices Won't Review Taxing Of Power Plant On Tribal Land

The U.S. Supreme Court declined on Monday to hear a power company's claims that federal law protects a power plant it owns on tribal land in Arizona from property taxes.
June 30, 2025
Justices Take On Enbridge Pipeline Remand Fight

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to review a Sixth Circuit decision that found Enbridge Energy LP missed a statutory deadline to transfer to federal court a lawsuit from Michigan's attorney general seeking to shut down one of the company's pipelines.

Expert Analysis

Series

My Opera And Baseball Careers Make Me A Better Lawyer

Though participating in opera and the world of professional baseball often pulls me away from the office, my avocations improve my legal career by helping me perform under scrutiny, prioritize team success, and maintain joy and perspective at work, says Adam Unger at Herrick Feinstein.
8 Ways Lawyers Can Protect The Rule Of Law In Their Work

Whether they are concerned with judicial independence, regulatory predictability or client confidence, lawyers can take specific meaningful actions on their own when traditional structures are too slow or too compromised to respond, says Angeli Patel at the Berkeley Center of Law and Business.
Series

Law School's Missed Lessons: Communicating With Clients

Law school curricula often overlook client communication procedures, and those who actively teach this crucial facet of the practice can create exceptional client satisfaction and success, says Patrick Hanson at Wiggam Law.
Series

Adapting To Private Practice: From US Rep. To Boutique Firm

My transition from serving as a member of Congress to becoming a partner at a boutique firm has been remarkably smooth, in part because I never stopped exercising my legal muscles, maintained relationships with my former colleagues and set the right tone at the outset, says Mondaire Jones at Friedman Kaplan.
Opinion

Senate's 41% Litigation Finance Tax Would Hurt Legal System

The Senate’s latest version of the Big Beautiful Bill Act would impose a 41% tax on the litigation finance industry, but the tax is totally disconnected from the concerns it purports to address, and it would set the country back to a time when small plaintiffs had little recourse against big defendants, says Anthony Sebok at Cardozo School of Law.
Series

Performing As A Clown Makes Me A Better Lawyer

To say that being a clown in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade has changed my legal career would truly be an understatement — by creating an opening to converse on a unique topic, it has allowed me to connect with clients, counsel and even judges on a deeper level, says Charles Tatelbaum at Tripp Scott.
The CFTC Is Shaking Up Sports Betting's Legal Future

The sports betting industry faces a potential sea change amid recent state and federal actions across the regulatory landscape that have expanded access to sporting event contracts against the backdrop of waning Commodity Futures Trading Commission opposition, says Nick Covek at Foley & Lardner.
Series

Law School's Missed Lessons: Rejecting Biz Dev Myths

Law schools don’t spend sufficient time dispelling certain myths that prevent young lawyers from exploring new business opportunities, but by dismissing these misguided beliefs, even an introverted first-year associate with a small network of contacts can find long-term success, says Ronald Levine at Herrick Feinstein.
Move Beyond Surface-Level Edits To Master Legal Writing

Recent instances in which attorneys filed briefs containing artificial intelligence hallucinations offer a stark reminder that effective revision isn’t just about superficial details like grammar — it requires attorneys to critically engage with their writing and analyze their rhetorical choices, says Ivy Grey at WordRake.
9th Circ. Has Muddied Waters Of Article III Pleading Standard

District courts in the Ninth Circuit continue to apply a defunct and especially forgiving pleading standard to questions of Article III standing, and the circuit court itself has only perpetuated this confusion — making it an attractive forum for disputes that have no rightful place in federal court, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.
Series

Competing In Modern Pentathlon Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Opening myself up to new experiences through competing in modern Olympic pentathlon has shrunk the appearance of my daily work annoyances and helps me improve my patience, manage crises better and remember that acquiring new skills requires working through your early mistakes, says attorney Mary Zoldak.
Series

Law School's Missed Lessons: Teaching Yourself Legal Tech

New graduates often enter practice unfamiliar with even basic professional software, but budding lawyers can use on-the-job opportunities to both catch up on technological skills and explore the advanced legal and artificial intelligence tools that will open doors, says Alyssa Sones at Sheppard Mullin.
How AI May Reshape The Future Of Adjudication

As discussed at a recent panel at Texas A&M, artificial intelligence will not erase the human element of adjudication in the next 10 to 20 years, but it will drive efficiencies that spur private arbiters to experiment, lead public courts to evolve and force attorneys to adapt, says Christopher Seck at Squire Patton.
Justices' Charter School Tie Delays Church-State Reckoning

The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent deadlock in Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board v. Drummond, blocking the creation of the nation’s first religious charter school, preserved the separation of church and state for now, but offered little reassurance about its continued viability, says Jeffrey Sultanik at Fox Rothschild.
When Legal Advocacy Crosses The Line Into Incivility

As judges issue sanctions for courtroom incivility, and state bars advance formal discipline rules, trial lawyers must understand that the difference between zealous advocacy and unprofessionalism is not just a matter of tone; it's a marker of skill, credibility and potentially disciplinary exposure, says Nate Sabri at Perkins Coie.