Native American

January 25, 2024
ACLU Says Native American Inmate Denied Religious Rights

The ACLU of Rhode Island is asking a federal district court for an order that will allow a Native American inmate to wear an Apache headband as part of his religious beliefs, arguing in a lawsuit that the state's Department of Corrections' refusal of the requests violates his rights under federal law designed to protect the religious freedom of incarcerated individuals.
January 25, 2024
States, Industry Back Feds' Land Swap Fight At 9th Circ.

The states of Idaho and Utah, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Mining Association have joined the federal government in urging the Ninth Circuit to overturn a lower court ruling in favor of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes' challenge to a land transfer intended for the expansion of a fertilizer plant.
January 25, 2024
Alaskan Guide Co. To Pay $900K For Fire On Native Lands

An Alaskan fishing guide service will pay $900,000 to resolve claims brought by the U.S. Department of the Interior accusing one of its guides of lighting an illegal campfire that ultimately burned through 176 acres of Native and federal public lands, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
January 25, 2024
Calif. Judge Says States' Trump Water Rule Challenge Is Moot

A California federal judge dismissed Democrat-led states' challenge to a Trump-era Clean Water Act rule the Biden administration has since replaced, saying because there is no present controversy, the case is moot.
January 25, 2024
Judge Won't Revisit Stay Issued In Gila River Water Fight

An Arizona federal judge said the U.S. government, San Carlos Apache Tribe and Gila Indian River Community failed to convince him to reverse a decision to deny their summary judgment motions and hit pause on a suit over Gila River water usage.
January 24, 2024
J&J Agrees To $150M Deal Ending Wash. Opioid Litigation

Johnson & Johnson will pay almost $150 million to end Washington's lawsuit accusing it of pushing opioid painkillers and understating the risk of addiction, according to a settlement filed in state court on Wednesday, adding to the tally of states that have gotten a payout from the pharmaceutical giant for its alleged role in the opioid epidemic.
January 24, 2024
Bid To Swap Chevron For An Old Standby Raises Doubts

Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court debated whether a World War II-era doctrine encouraging courts to strongly consider agency statutory interpretations could replace the court's controversial so-called Chevron doctrine that requires judges to defer to those interpretations if a statute is ambiguous.
January 24, 2024
Enviro, Tribal Orgs. Claim Calif. Botched Delta Tunnel Reviews

Conservation groups are taking aim at the California Department of Water Resources' review and approval of the Delta Conveyance Project, claiming it glossed over harms that would stem from an estimated $16 billion push to augment the State Water Project with a 45-mile water diversion tunnel under the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
January 24, 2024
La. Wins Injunction Against EPA On Disparate Impact Rules

A Louisiana federal judge will allow the state to temporarily block the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from imposing certain environmental justice requirements on permitting and grant decisions, finding the state is likely to prevail in its challenge.
January 24, 2024
Mohawk Council Wants To Withdraw From 1796 Land Dispute

The Mohawk Nation Council of Chiefs says a recent decision to withdraw from a land settlement agreement with the state of New York over a decadeslong lawsuit involving more than 2,000 acres of illegally purchased land was not easy but was made in the interest of protecting the territorial integrity of the Mohawk Nation.
January 24, 2024
Campground Operator Must Pay $1M Bond, Judge Says

A Montana campground operator has until early March to post a $1 million surety bond, a federal district court judge determined while rejecting the company's bid to cut the amount in half pending an appeal to the Ninth Circuit.
January 23, 2024
States Fear For Rights As Feds Press High Court Water War

The U.S. Supreme Court's decision to consider whether the federal government was inappropriately excluded from a Rio Grande water sharing agreement between Texas, New Mexico and Colorado raises novel questions about the United States' interests and role in such interstate deals, an important issue as water concerns increase across the nation.
January 23, 2024
Feds Say Tribal Leaders Lack Standing In Banishment Suit

Three former Oklahoma Native American government leaders seeking to overturn tribal laws that banned and sanctioned them haven't exhausted their administrative remedies, the federal government said, arguing that the trio never challenged the results of an election that ultimately allowed their punishments to be reinstated.
January 23, 2024
W.Va. County To Face Off With Opioid Distributors At 4th Circ.

A Fourth Circuit panel will hear oral arguments Thursday morning in an appeal brought by a West Virginia county that lost the first bench trial in multidistrict litigation over the opioid epidemic, kicking off the first appellate arguments this year over verdicts in the MDL.
January 23, 2024
Voting Rights Groups Trim Claims In Ga. Election Law Dispute

Voting rights groups have dropped accusations that a controversial Georgia election law violated their free speech rights and narrowed claims that the measure infringed voters' right to participate in elections, according to an amended complaint.
January 23, 2024
Court Will Rethink Tribes' Claims In Railroad Dispute

An Idaho federal judge has reinstated two Quiet Title Act claims the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes of the Fort Hall Reservation lodged against the federal government in a dispute over land once used by a railway, agreeing that a Supreme Court ruling requires the reversal of a prior order dismissing the claims.
January 22, 2024
Officer's Conduct A Departure From BIA Policy, 9th Circ. Told

The Bureau of Indian Affairs has said that despite one of its former officer's "reprehensible abuse of authority" in sexually assaulting a Northern Cheyenne woman, the federal government isn't responsible for his actions because it was a clear departure from any conduct authorized by his employer.
January 22, 2024
Native Group Urges Court To Keep NFL Conspiracy Bid In Play

A Native American organization is urging a federal district court to deny a motion by Washington Commanders owner Josh Harris seeking to dismiss its $1.6 million civil conspiracy and defamation lawsuit, saying that for an organization that promotes inclusivity, it is unacceptable to defame a minority group for sharing a different viewpoint.
January 22, 2024
Feds Defend Ability To Take Land Into Trust For Alaska Tribes

The U.S. government is urging an Alaska federal judge to reject the state of Alaska's arguments that the Interior Department's decision to take a 787-square-foot piece of land in downtown Juneau in trust for the Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes oversteps its authority or threatens state jurisdiction.
January 22, 2024
Motley Rice Fights DQ Bid In Opioid MDL

Law firms representing governments suing over the opioid epidemic on Monday told an Ohio federal judge that "corporate wrongdoers" don't get to pick who sues them, in response to a pharmacy benefit manager's bid to disqualify Motley Rice LLC over its representation of other governments in prescription drug disputes.
January 22, 2024
Ariz. 'Fintech Sandbox' Regulator Joins Greenberg Traurig

Greenberg Traurig LLP's newest shareholder is an experienced financial technology regulator who has joined the firm's Phoenix office after nine years of government service.
January 22, 2024
Justices To Consider If Feds Can Stop Rio Grande Water Deal

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to consider whether the federal government has the authority to scuttle a Rio Grande water sharing agreement between Texas, New Mexico and Colorado.
January 22, 2024
High Court Won't Review Tribal Bond Scam Case

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday denied a petition by a former private equity professional to appeal his conviction and one-year prison sentence for allegedly helping a career con artist to execute a $60 million tribal bond scam.
January 19, 2024
Law360 Names Firms Of The Year

Eight law firms have earned spots as Law360's Firms of the Year, with 55 Practice Group of the Year awards among them, steering some of the largest deals of 2023 and securing high-profile litigation wins, including at the U.S. Supreme Court.
January 19, 2024
Law360 Names Practice Groups Of The Year

Law360 would like to congratulate the winners of its Practice Groups of the Year awards for 2023, which honor the attorney teams behind litigation wins and major deals that resonated throughout the legal industry this past year.

Expert Analysis

Atty-Client Privilege Arguments Give Justices A Moving Target

Recent oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court in a case regarding the scope of the attorney-client privilege appeared to raise more questions about multipurpose counsel communications than they answered, as the parties presented shifting iterations of a predictable, easily applied test for evaluating the communications' purpose, say Trey Bourn and Thomas DiStanislao at Butler Snow.
5 Gen X Characteristics That Can Boost Legal Leadership

As Generation X attorneys rise to fill top roles in law firms and corporations left by retiring baby boomers, they should embrace generational characteristics that will allow them to become better legal leaders, says Meredith Kahan at Whiteford Taylor.
6 Questions For Boutique Firms Considering Mergers

To prepare for discussions with potential merger partners, boutique law firms should first consider the challenges they hope to address with a merger and the qualities they prioritize in possible partner firms, say Howard Cohl and Ron Nye at Major Lindsey.
5 Tips For Adding Value To Legal Clients' Experience In 2023

Faced with a potential economic downturn this year, attorneys should look to strengthen client relationships now by focusing on key ways to improve the client experience, starting with a check-in call to discuss client needs and priorities for the coming year, say attorneys at Troutman Pepper.
6 Ways To Avoid Compounding Errors When Practicing Law

For lawyers and law firms, inevitable human error can lead to claims of malpractice or ethical violations, but the key is to avoid exacerbating mistakes by adding communication failures, conflicts of interest or insurance coverage losses, says Mark Hinderks at Stinson.
What Will Keep Legal Talent Professionals Up At Night In 2023

Hybrid work environments, high demand for lateral hires and a potential slowdown of the economy defined 2022 in the always-busy marketplace for legal talent, and as BigLaw looks at the year ahead, there are five major sources of concern for the teams charged with securing and retaining that talent, say advisers at Baretz+Brunelle.
The Most-Read Legal Industry Law360 Guest Articles Of 2022

A range of legal industry topics drew readers' attention in Law360's Expert Analysis section this year, from the "great resignation" to potential expansion of attorney-client privilege.
Will BLM's 2nd Attempt At Natural Gas Waste Rule Succeed?

The Bureau of Land Management's new natural gas waste reduction proposal revamps a 2016 rule struck down for trying to regulate air emissions — and while the proposal's focus is reducing operator costs and raising taxpayer revenue, it may still face court challenges, say Andrew Glenn and Katie Andersen at Husch Blackwell.
What 3 Legal Industry Trends From 2022 Mean For Next Year

Kate Reder Sheikh at Major Lindsey & Africa looks back on the year in legal recruiting, including practice areas that saw the most movement, which regions seemed most ripe for new office openings and who was promoted to partner, and makes some look-ahead predictions for 2023.
Learning From This Year's Legal Industry Discrimination Suits

To limit the risk of lawsuits and make the workplace a more welcoming environment for female attorneys, it is important to reflect on lawyers' recent discrimination and sexual harassment claims against law firms and public employers, says Hope Comisky at Griesing Law.
Series

The Future Of Legal Ops: AI Has Important Role To Play

Though the debut of OpenAI's ChatGPT has prompted some fears about negative impact on lawyers, artificial intelligence technology can be a powerful tool for legal operations professionals if used effectively to augment their work, say Justin Ben-Asher and Gwendolyn Renigar at Steptoe, and Elizabeth Matthews at TotalEnergies.
4 Proactive Strategies For 'Rocket Docket' Discovery In SDNY

With more than half of Southern District of New York judges now allowing four or fewer months for fact discovery, civil litigators in this aspiring "rocket docket" jurisdiction should prioritize case management methods that make the most of this compressed timeline, say Jaclyn Grodin and Nicholas Cutaia at Goulston & Storrs.
Opinion

Increasing Law Firm Polarization Will Degrade Rule Of Law

As evidenced in recent instances of law firms separating from attorneys who represented certain industries or espoused certain views, firms and the legal practice itself have grown troublingly polarized and intolerant of dissent, says Rebecca Roiphe at New York Law School.
How To Deal With Difficult Clients, Practically And Ethically

Meredith Stoma at Lewis Brisbois discusses common obstacles for counsel working with difficult clients and provides guidance on ethically managing or terminating these challenging relationships — as, for example, counsel for Ye have recently done.
Opinion

Federal Courts Should Adopt Supreme Court's Amicus Stance

The federal courts of appeals should adopt the U.S. Supreme Court's new approach to amicus curiae briefs, which allows the friend-of-the-court submissions to be filed without consent from the court or the parties, says Lawrence Ebner at Atlantic Legal Foundation.