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Native American

February 04, 2026
Class Action Group Of The Year: Lieff Cabraser

Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein LLP helped secure a $300 million settlement for third-party payors, a class of private benefit plan providers who argued that opioid distributors fanned the flames of the addiction crisis in the U.S., one of several high-profile class action settlements with nationwide impacts that earned the firm a place among the 2025 Law360 Class Action Groups of the Year.
February 04, 2026
NY Judge Says Child Custody Case Belongs In Navajo Court

A New York state family court judge has said he won't exercise jurisdiction in a domestic abuse and child custody case that originated in a Navajo Nation court, ruling that the Indian Child Welfare Act requires states to honor tribes' judicial proceedings in child custody disputes.
February 03, 2026
Feds Look To Trim Cross-Claims In Yellowstone Bison Suit

The Interior Department has asked a Montana federal judge to toss the Cottonwood Environmental Law Center's challenge to the government's bison population management plan in Yellowstone National Park, saying it does not have a legally protectable interest in the case.
February 03, 2026
Tribes Accuse Coinbase Of Siphoning Ill. Gambling Revenue

The Indian Gaming Association, tribal gambling groups and 23 Native American tribes have urged an Illinois federal judge to toss cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase's suit against the state as it tries to prohibit the company from offering event contracts to consumers as a form of sports betting.
February 03, 2026
FERC Members Say High Court Helped Speed Up Gas Reviews

The U.S. Supreme Court's landmark decision last year that curtailed federal environmental reviews has translated to faster Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approvals of gas infrastructure projects, commissioners told a congressional energy panel Tuesday.
February 02, 2026
DC Circ. Gets History Lesson As Tribe Fights For Utah Land

The D.C. Circuit got a lesson in tribal history dating back to the 19th century as lawyers for the federal government and a Native American tribe argued Monday whether a congressional act gives the tribe compensable title to 1.5 million acres of Utah land where an oilfield lies.
February 02, 2026
Offshore Wind Crowns Courtroom Sweep With Sunrise Restart

A D.C. federal judge on Monday lifted the Trump administration's halt of the Sunrise Wind project, the final victory for five East Coast offshore wind farms that all convinced courts to block the government's stop-work orders.
February 02, 2026
FCC's Phone Subsidy Fund Aims To Improve Nat'l Verifier

As the Federal Communications Commission responds to reports from its internal auditors of widespread fraud in Lifeline phone services, the program's administrator has said progress is underway to strengthen a national system to verify beneficiaries.
February 02, 2026
SEC Seeks Default Win Against Native Corp. In $3M Fraud Suit

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has asked a New York federal judge to grant it a default win against a purported Native American microcap company and its CEO accused of a $3.4 million fraud, saying the defendants have not responded to the lawsuit.
February 02, 2026
EEOC Calls School Board's Bias Probe Challenge Premature

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission urged a New Mexico federal judge to toss a school board's challenge to an agency investigation into alleged hiring discrimination against Native Americans, arguing the case is procedurally out of line.
February 02, 2026
Calif. Lawmakers OK Tax Break For Tribal Land Conservation

Native American tribes in California would be eligible for a property tax exemption for land conservation efforts under a bill approved by lawmakers and headed to Gov. Gavin Newsom.
January 30, 2026
8th Circ. Affirms Toss Of ND Tribal Landowners' Pipeline Suit

The Eighth Circuit Friday refused to revive a group of landowning Three Affiliated Tribes members' lawsuit accusing oil pipeline operator Andeavor of trespassing across their North Dakota reservation lands, with a panel majority concluding that the members had no federal common law trespass claim.
January 30, 2026
Okla. Gov. Challenges AG's Tribal Hunting Policy Opinion

Oklahoma's governor and wildlife department have urged the Oklahoma Supreme Court to give them control over hunting and fishing rights on tribal reservation lands so they can issue state-managed permits, arguing that an opinion by the state's attorney general wrongly says federal law prohibits such permitting.
January 30, 2026
Tribe's Cannabis Raid Claims Largely Survive Dismissal

A California federal judge has denied the bulk of two motions to dismiss a suit from the Round Valley Indian Tribes and three of its members alleging that their properties were illegally raided for growing cannabis, dismissing only the claims that law enforcement officers didn't have jurisdiction over the properties.
January 30, 2026
Judge Signs Off On Idaho Mine Pollution Settlement

An Idaho federal judge has approved a proposed consent decree calling for two Nu-West companies and the U.S. government to share costs to implement remediation work for a North Maybe Mine site in Caribou County.
January 29, 2026
Tribal Gaming Groups' Support Blocked In Tenn. Kalshi Case

A Tennessee federal judge has denied a bid by tribal groups including the Indian Gaming Association and the National Congress of American Indians to file an amicus brief in prediction market Kalshi's suit against state gambling regulators over the company's sports wagers.
January 29, 2026
Minn. County Appeals 3,000-Acre Land Trust Order At 8th Circ.

A Minnesota county and two of its townships are appealing to the Eighth Circuit a lower court's order that dismissed a challenge to a U.S. Department of the Interior decision to take more than 3,000 acres into trust for the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe.
January 29, 2026
Interior Dept. Says NY Can't Overcome Offshore Wind Halt

The Trump administration has urged a D.C. federal court to reject New York's attempt to undo the suspension of an Ørsted subsidiary's offshore wind project, saying the state has only claimed distant and derivative economic harm.
January 29, 2026
Dispensaries Sue Hawaii Over Criminalizing Hemp Products

Two dispensary owners are suing Hawaii's attorney general and the Hawaii State Department of Health, alleging that the state's new law regulating hemp products is preempted by the 2018 Farm Bill and violates the supremacy clause by criminalizing conduct Congress legalized.
January 29, 2026
U. Of Edinburgh Repatriates Historic Muscogee Remains

Scotland's University of Edinburgh is returning the remains of six Muscogee (Creek) Nation individuals in what it says it believes is the first international repatriation of Native American ancestral remains to the United States' mainland.
January 28, 2026
Unions Say FEMA Staff Cuts Threaten Disaster Readiness

A coalition of unions, nonprofit organizations and local governments that are challenging the Trump administration's federal worker layoffs and agency reorganizations asked a California federal judge Tuesday for permission to add the Federal Emergency Management Agency as a defendant, saying ongoing staff cuts threaten its legally mandated responsibility to respond to disasters.
January 28, 2026
FCC Sees Dead People On Lifeline, But Dems Balk At New Reg

Democrats are bristling against a plan by the Federal Communications Commission to reduce purported fraud in the Lifeline program, where the agency says some states enrolled dead people and others who don't qualify.
January 28, 2026
Enbridge Looks To Keep Pipeline Open Amid 7th Circ. Appeal

Enbridge Energy Inc. is looking to pause a shutdown order of a segment of its Line 5 pipeline that runs through Wisconsin tribal lands pending its Seventh Circuit appeal, arguing to a Wisconsin district court that a cutoff would cause disproportionate economic harm and energy shortages.
January 28, 2026
Casino License Revocation Order Off The Mark, 8th Circ. Told

Two Cherokee Nation entities say an Arkansas federal court "struck out on its own" when it dismissed claims over the revocation of an Arkansas-issued gambling license, telling the Eighth Circuit that the decision sets a dangerous precedent that will haunt the state as it seeks multimillion-dollar investors.
January 28, 2026
EPA Begins Rollback Of Biden-Era Smog Control Plan

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed to reapprove pollution control plans from several states as part of its effort to undo a Biden-era rule curbing cross-border smog formation that was halted by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Expert Analysis

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.
Series

Volunteering At Schools Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Speaking to elementary school students about the importance of college and other opportunities after high school — especially students who may not see those paths reflected in their daily lives — not only taught me the importance of giving back, but also helped to sharpen several skills essential to a successful legal practice, says Guillermo Escobedo at Constangy.
Attacks On Judicial Independence Tend To Manifest In 3 Ways

Attacks on judicial independence now run the gamut from gross (bald-faced interference) to systemic (structural changes) to insidious (efforts to undermine public trust), so lawyers, judges and the public must recognize the fateful moment in which we live and defend the rule of law every day, says Jim Moliterno at Washington and Lee University.
High Court Birthright Case Could Reshape Judicial Power

Recent arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court in cases challenging President Donald Trump’s birthright citizenship executive order primarily focused on federal judges’ power to issue nationwide injunctions and suggest that the upcoming decision may fundamentally change how federal courts operate, says Mauni Jalali at Quinn Emanuel.
Justices Hand Agencies Broad Discretion In NEPA Review

By limiting the required scope of reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act, the U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling in Seven County Infrastructure Coalition v. Eagle County could weaken the review process under NEPA, while also raising questions regarding the degree of deference afforded to agencies, say attorneys at Foley Hoag.