Native American

  • February 05, 2024

    States, Businesses Push To Sink Feds' Amended WOTUS Rule

    Texas, Idaho and more than a dozen industry groups are asking a Texas federal judge to throw out the U.S. government's latest rule to define the "waters of the United States," arguing that it oversteps federal authorities under the Clean Water Act, is overly vague and flies in the face of a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

  • February 02, 2024

    Clean Energy Can Revive Fossil Fuel Sites, But Risks Abound

    Building clean energy projects on the sites of shuttered or aging coal- and gas-fired power plants is a multibillion-dollar opportunity to accelerate the U.S. energy transition, but there are steep legal and practical hurdles to clear. Here's a rundown of what developers must grapple with if they want to build green on fossil fuel sites.

  • February 02, 2024

    Youths Say DOJ Using Extreme Tactics To Delay Climate Trial

    Young people who claim the U.S. government is violating their rights with energy policies that are worsening climate change hit back against the Justice Department's latest bid to pause their suit before it can go to trial, saying courts should not tolerate its extreme delay tactics and shocking conduct.

  • February 02, 2024

    Tribes Fight Industry Bid To Weigh In On Land Swap Dispute

    The Shoshone-Bannock Tribes are objecting to two industry groups weighing in on a dispute over a federal land transfer for the expansion of a fertilizer plant, telling the Ninth Circuit that the organizations' "impermissibly partisan" arguments offer no novel legal perspectives on the case.

  • February 02, 2024

    Court's Claims Of Internal Dispute A Myth, Tribe Tells Fed. Circ.

    The Winnemucca Indian Colony is asking the Federal Circuit to overturn a decision that dismissed allegations in a $208 million breach of trust suit against the Bureau of Indian Affairs, saying the Court of Federal Claims wrongly characterized the events that underpinned its litigation as an internal dispute within the tribe.

  • February 02, 2024

    Pennsylvania AG's Clout In Opioid Deal Likely Has Wide Reach

    A Pennsylvania court's ruling that the attorney general had the power to overrule local district attorneys' objections to a big opioid settlement could affect the prosecutors' power dynamic beyond the painkiller litigation, overshadowing other areas where they could share jurisdiction or clash over politically sensitive issues, attorneys told Law360.

  • February 01, 2024

    Texas Judge Says Tribal Telecom Immune To Contract Suit

    A telecom owned by the Gila River Indian Community can't be sued in federal court for $247,000 in unpaid invoices stemming from a contract to provide the company with billing software, a Texas federal court has ruled.

  • February 01, 2024

    GAO Nixes Protests To Army's Costly Pick For $549M Deal

    The U.S. Government Accountability Office freed the U.S. Army Materiel Command from claims it unreasonably snubbed two contractors for an installation support deal in favor of a company with a more expensive bid, saying the command justified the price differential.

  • February 01, 2024

    Pharma Hikma Reaches $150M Opioid Settlement With States

    Hikma Pharmaceuticals and several attorneys general announced a $150 million agreement in principle on Thursday resolving cases brought by a group of states and localities alleging the company fueled the opioid crisis by failing to report suspicious opioid orders from potentially illegal distributors.

  • February 01, 2024

    Ariz. Tribes Push To Halt Work On SunZia Line

    Two tribes and conservation groups are urging an Arizona federal judge to pause construction on a 550-mile power transmission line approved by the U.S. Department of the Interior before the work damages historic and cultural resources they claim the government failed to properly assess and safeguard.

  • February 01, 2024

    Native Microcap Co. Seeks Stay In $3.4M Stock Scam Suit

    The chief executive officer of a penny stock company with Native American ties has asked a New York federal magistrate judge to pause a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission suit, saying a trial may not be needed because a share buyback deal is underway.

  • February 01, 2024

    Alaska Tribes Seek Canada Recognition To Consult On Mines

    A group of tribal governments in southeast Alaska is asking Canadian regulators to acknowledge its historic presence along the boundary-crossing Unuk River, in order to protect the watershed from open-pit gold and silver mining Skeena Resources Ltd. is proposing in British Columbia.

  • February 01, 2024

    Energy Co. Seeks Final $12.6M Award For Tribal Equipment

    Merit Energy Operations is asking a federal district court to enter judgment after an arbitration panel determined that two Wyoming Native American tribes must pay $12.6 million to purchase equipment from the company after a lease agreement to operate on reservation land expired.

  • January 31, 2024

    8th Circ. Won't Revisit VRA Ruling Nixing Private Right To Sue

    A split Eighth Circuit panel has declined to rehear arguments in a voting rights case in which civil rights groups accuse Arkansas officials of crafting a redistricting plan that dilutes minority voting strength, in turn upholding its prior ruling that private parties can't sue for alleged violations under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.

  • January 31, 2024

    ND Tribes' Bid For District Is Gerrymandering, 8th Circ. Told

    The basis for two Native American tribes' dilution allegations in a Voting Rights Act case constitutes a preference for racial gerrymandering in seeking to join their reservations into one elongated district, North Dakota Secretary of State Micheal Howe told the Eighth Circuit.

  • January 31, 2024

    MAGA Hat Teen Asks Justices To Hear Suit Against Media Cos.

    A man suing news organizations for defamation over their coverage of an encounter he had with a Native American activist while he was a teenager wearing a "Make America Great Again" hat is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to revive his claims, saying the Sixth Circuit was wrong to decide that descriptions of his actions during the confrontation were protected opinion.

  • January 31, 2024

    Tribes, Enviro Orgs. Try To Join Tongass Roadless Rule Fight

    A coalition of tribes, conservation groups, fishers and tourism businesses is pushing to help defend a 2023 rule that reinstated roadless area protections for about 9 million acres in Tongass National Forest and is now being challenged by Alaska, power companies and business and industry groups.

  • January 30, 2024

    EEOC's Kotagal Touts New Effort To Bolster Worker Outreach

    The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has launched a new initiative led by Commissioner Kalpana Kotagal aimed at making the agency more accessible to workers from marginalized communities, especially in remote parts of the country where the agency's physical presence is limited. 

  • January 30, 2024

    Feds Say Talks Preferred In Wis. Tribal Roads Trespass Suit

    The federal government has said it prefers a negotiated resolution with a northern Wisconsin town that allows it to remain part of a tribal road system, but if an agreement can't be reached, it will continue to pursue trespassing claims and past damages against the municipality.

  • January 30, 2024

    Pipeline Cos. To Pay $7.4M For Oil Spill On Tribal Land

    U.S. officials are proposing an agreement for two companies to pay $7.4 million in penalties to settle Clean Water Act claims stemming from a July 2022 pipeline rupture in Oklahoma that spilled several hundred thousand gallons of crude oil into a creek on land owned by the Sac and Fox Nation.

  • January 30, 2024

    Tribe's Repeat Default Bids Disrespect Court, Blue Cross Says

    Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan says a Native American tribe's third request for a default win in its suit alleging the insurer overcharged for tribe members' care is disrespectful and constitutes a continued violation of a court order for the tribe to identify members involved in the insurance plan.

  • January 30, 2024

    Feds, Tesoro Question Landowners' Bid To Join Pipeline Fight

    The U.S. government has told a North Dakota federal judge that tribal landowners' push to join a pipeline fight with Tesoro High Plains Pipeline Co. LLC may be premature, while the company said it threatens to turn its litigation against the government "into a circus."

  • January 29, 2024

    Green Groups Oppose Extension Of Mont. Coal Mine Analysis

    Conservation groups are fighting the U.S. government's bid for more time to correct a faulty environmental analysis of a coal strip mine expansion near the city of Colstrip, Montana, arguing that a federal court already said it would halt mining if changes weren't made within 19 months.

  • January 29, 2024

    No Need To Stop Salmon Fishing To Help Orcas, 9th Circ. Told

    Alaska, the U.S. government and a fishing trade group are all urging the Ninth Circuit to reverse a lower court ruling vacating an incidental take statement underpinning a Chinook salmon troll fishery in southeast Alaska, arguing the district court inflated questionable benefits to prey availability for endangered killer whales and failed to consider harms to Alaska communities.

  • January 29, 2024

    Justices Set March Arguments In Tribal Healthcare Dispute

    The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments in March on two federal government petitions seeking to overturn orders that have the potential to cost $2 billion a year to support Native American tribes that provide insurer-funded services to their members.

Expert Analysis

  • In-Office Engagement Is Essential To Associate Development

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    As law firms develop return-to-office policies that allow hybrid work arrangements, they should incorporate the specific types of in-person engagement likely to help associates develop attributes common among successful firm leaders, says Liisa Thomas at Sheppard Mullin.

  • Perspectives

    A Judge's Pitch To Revive The Jury Trial

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    Ohio state Judge Pierre Bergeron explains how the decline of the jury trial threatens public confidence in the judiciary and even democracy as a whole, and he offers ideas to restore this sacred right.

  • How To Recognize And Recover From Lawyer Loneliness

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    Law can be one of the loneliest professions, but there are practical steps that attorneys and their managers can take to help themselves and their peers improve their emotional health, strengthen their social bonds and protect their performance, says psychologist and attorney Traci Cipriano.

  • Opinion

    Litigation Funding Disclosure Should Be Mandatory

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    Despite the Appellate Rules Committee's recent deferral of the issue of requiring third-party litigation funding disclosure, such a mandate is necessary to ensure the even-handed administration of justice across all cases, says David Levitt at Hinshaw.

  • Recalling USWNT's Legal PR Playbook Amid World Cup Bid

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    As the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team strives to take home another World Cup trophy, their 2022 pay equity settlement with the U.S. Soccer Federation serves as a good reminder that winning in the court of public opinion can be more powerful than a victory inside the courtroom, says Hector Valle at Vianovo.

  • Assessing EPA's Potential Retreat On Title VI Enforcement

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    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's decision to close its Title VI investigation of Louisiana — rather than respond to the state's litigation challenge against it — raises questions about the efficacy of the agency's plans to use Title VI in support of its environmental justice initiatives, say Susan Richardson and Jeffrey Davidson at Kilpatrick Townsend.

  • High Court's Tribal Water Rights Ruling Steadies The Boat

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling in Arizona v. Navajo Nation — concerning the federal government's obligations to help secure tribal access to water — overturns a Ninth Circuit decision that could have undermined existing state adjudication processes and unleashed a wave of tribal water rights claims, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.

  • Perspectives

    Mallory Gives Plaintiffs A Better Shot At Justice

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    Critics of the U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Mallory v. Norfolk Southern claim it opens the door to litigation tourism, but the ruling simply gives plaintiffs more options — enabling them to seek justice against major corporations in the best possible court, say Rayna Kessler and Ethan Seidenberg at Robins Kaplan.

  • Why Seminole Tribe Sports Betting Ruling Is A Net Positive

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    The D.C. Circuit Court’s recent ruling that a gambling compact between Florida and the Seminole Tribe is lawful even though it allows for online sports betting expands the tribe's offerings while maintaining exclusivity and is a win for individuals who wish to legally wager on sports within Florida, says Daniel McGinn at Dean Mead.

  • Courts Can Overturn Deficient State Regulations, Too

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    While suits challenging federal regulations have become commonplace, such cases against state agencies are virtually nonexistent, but many states have provisions that allow litigants to bring suit for regulations with inadequate cost-benefit analyses, says Reeve Bull at the Virginia Office of Regulatory Management.

  • Tales From The Trenches Of Remote Depositions

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    As practitioners continue to conduct depositions remotely in the post-pandemic world, these virtual environments are rife with opportunities for improper behavior such as witness coaching, scripted testimony and a general lack of civility — but there are methods to prevent and combat these behaviors, say Jennifer Gibbs and Bennett Moss at Zelle.

  • Opinion

    The Case For Seating The Cherokee Nation's Delegate

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    The U.S. government should follow through on its obligation to seat a delegate from the Cherokee Nation in the U.S. House of Representatives, as explicitly promised in a treaty ratified nearly 200 years ago, says Jack Baker at the National Trail of Tears Association.

  • Sackett Ruling, 'Waters' Rule Fix Won't Dry Up Wetlands Suits

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    In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling in Sackett v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency narrowing the scope of Clean Water Act protections, the Biden administration is amending its rule defining "waters of the United States" — but the revised rule will inevitably face further court challenges, continuing the WOTUS legal saga indefinitely, say attorneys at Milbank.

  • Bid Protest Spotlight: Errors, Experience, Corrective Action

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    In this month's bid protest spotlight, Krista Nunez at MoFo looks at three recent decisions from the U.S. Court of Federal Claims and the U.S. Government Accountability Office considering the resolution of proposal inconsistencies through clarifications, the importance of reading solicitations in full and the scope of an agency’s corrective action.

  • Minn. Mine Denial Stresses Importance Of Tribal Partnerships

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    The Army Corps of Engineers' decision to revoke a suspended Clean Water Act permit for a proposed mine in Minnesota is a reminder that project developers need to take tribal authority and rights seriously and consider early and frequent consultation with tribes, say attorneys at K&L Gates.

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