Native American

  • April 21, 2025

    Unions Score Block On Orders To Fire Probationary Workers

    A California federal judge blocked the Office of Personnel Management from ordering federal agencies to fire probationary employees and stopped several agencies from heeding its directives, but he declined to order them to rehire the workers they've already let go.

  • April 21, 2025

    Supreme Court Won't Hear Neb. Tribe's Tobacco Sales Dispute

    The U.S. Supreme Court won't hear two Nebraska tribal companies' bid to undo an Eighth Circuit ruling that held the state can regulate a tribally owned manufacturer's sales of cigarettes to Indigenous-owned distributors after officials attempted to apply a settlement with major tobacco companies on the Winnebago reservation.

  • April 18, 2025

    Apache Ask High Court For Quick Ruling In Oak Flat Land Row

    An Apache nonprofit behind the effort to save an ancient worship site from destruction in Arizona is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to quickly rule on its petition after the federal government announced it is moving forward with plans to transfer the site to Resolution Copper for mining.

  • April 18, 2025

    Tribal 'Window' For New Spectrum Licenses Defended At FCC

    A pair of public interest groups asked Democrats on the Federal Communications Commission to support a tribal "window" allowing Native American bidders a chance to reserve licenses in a commercial spectrum band that's poised for FCC auction.

  • April 18, 2025

    Unions Score Injunction To Stop DOGE's Access To SSA Data

    The Social Security Administration cannot give Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency access to personal data within the agency's system, a Maryland federal judge ruled, saying the government "cannot flout" federal privacy law while granting an injunction to unions and a retiree advocacy group.

  • April 18, 2025

    Trump Admin Pushes Ahead With New Offshore Oil Leases

    The U.S. Department of the Interior on Friday said it's "unlocking the full potential" of offshore oil and gas lease sales on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf, a rebuke to the Biden administration's conservative approach to development.

  • April 18, 2025

    Federal Cannabis Law Reform Eyed In Bipartisan Push

    A bipartisan group of representatives has introduced legislation to reconcile the conflicts between the federal prohibition on cannabis and state laws that legalize it, and to prepare the country for federal legalization.

  • April 17, 2025

    9th Circ. Signals Support For Tribes' Cultural Loss Claims

    A Ninth Circuit panel was skeptical Thursday that a Teck Resources unit could dodge the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation's claims for tribal service losses stemming from a smelter's Columbia River pollution, with one judge saying Teck's argument was "splitting hairs."

  • April 17, 2025

    RI Judge Wants To Know Who's Behind $11B Health Grant Cuts

    A Rhode Island federal judge on Thursday pressed the Trump administration for details about the decision-makers behind the cancellation of billions in grants supporting state public health programs.

  • April 17, 2025

    Tribal Members Fight Bid To Transfer Canadian Tariff Dispute

    Four members of Montana's Blackfeet Nation are fighting a motion by the federal government to transfer their bid to block several Trump administration orders and proclamations imposing tariffs on Canadian goods, arguing there's no legal basis for the move to the U.S. Court of International Trade.

  • April 17, 2025

    Navajo Man Owed Relocation Benefits, 9th Circ. Rules

    The Ninth Circuit has ruled in a published opinion that a Navajo Nation member was wrongly denied relocation benefits after the U.S. government awarded his ancestral land to the Hopi Tribe, saying the federal relocation office relied on flawed findings and arbitrary reasoning when denying his claim.

  • April 17, 2025

    DC Circ. Refreezes EPA Climate Grant Funds

    The D.C. Circuit has paused a federal court's order directing Citibank to start disbursing funds to nonprofits undertaking climate change projects that were appropriated by Congress to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency during the Biden administration.

  • April 17, 2025

    AFL-CIO, Unions Can Pursue Some DOGE Access Claims

    The AFL-CIO, unions and advocacy groups may pursue allegations that Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency lacks the power to access data from the U.S. Department of Labor and other federal agencies, a D.C. federal judge ruled while tossing some claims under federal administrative and privacy law.

  • April 16, 2025

    Feds Float Reducing Endangered Species Habitat Protections

    The Trump administration on Wednesday said it plans to eliminate a long-standing regulatory provision that prohibits the destruction of endangered species habitat by project developers.

  • April 16, 2025

    Mont. Tribes Want DOI To Come Through With Police Funding

    Two Montana tribes have told a federal judge in the state that the U.S. Department of the Interior has frozen their law enforcement budget at what it was 28 years ago and that now the government owes the tribes millions of dollars.

  • April 16, 2025

    Interior Transfers 110,000 Acres To Army For Border Security

    The U.S. Department of the Interior is transferring 110,000 acres of federal land along the southern border to the U.S. Army to support Border Patrol as part of a sweeping effort by the Trump administration to crack down on illegal immigration.

  • April 16, 2025

    DOI Blocked From Making Connecticut Tribal Land Moves

    A Connecticut federal judge has temporarily barred the U.S. Department of the Interior from placing 80 acres of land claimed by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation into trust, and scheduled an expedited hearing on the state's request for a longer delay.

  • April 16, 2025

    Justices Urged To Deny Insurers' Tribal Jurisdiction Challenge

    The Suquamish Tribe told the U.S. Supreme Court it shouldn't hear a group of insurers' bid to litigate COVID-19-related property insurance claims outside tribal court, arguing the Ninth Circuit correctly held that the insurers' coverage of tribal property sufficiently established tribal jurisdiction.

  • April 16, 2025

    Judge Restores EPA Grant Funds For Climate Change Groups

    A D.C. federal judge has ordered Citibank NA to start disbursing Biden-era federal grant funding to nonprofits working on climate change projects, and blocked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's effort to terminate the grants.

  • April 15, 2025

    Judge Tells Feds To Unfreeze Climate, Infrastructure Funds

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and other federal agencies must "turn the funding spigots back on" while environmental groups challenge the Trump administration's decision to cut congressionally approved dollars for infrastructure, agriculture, climate and other initiatives, a Rhode Island federal judge ruled Tuesday.

  • April 15, 2025

    New Mexico Pueblos Allowed Into Fed Mineral Lease Ban Suit

    A pair of Native American pueblos can intervene in a Navajo Nation suit seeking to undo a Biden administration order withdrawing federal land from new mineral leasing around Chaco Canyon, a federal magistrate judge ruled Tuesday.

  • April 15, 2025

    DC Circ. Again Nixes Challenge To $44B Alaska LNG Project

    The D.C. Circuit rejected a challenge by conservation groups against the U.S. Department of Energy's reapproval of a $44 billion liquefied natural gas project in Alaska, ruling Tuesday the department's conclusion regarding uncertainty over the project's effects on greenhouse gases was supported by "overwhelming evidence" in its environmental impact statements.

  • April 15, 2025

    Court Abused Discretion In Tesoro Pipeline Row, 8th Circ. Told

    Enrolled members of a North Dakota tribe say a lower court abused its discretion in denying them intervention in a lawsuit challenging the federal government's right-of-way trespassing claims against the Tesoro High Plains Pipeline, arguing it failed to consider the full scope of their interests and rights at stake.

  • April 15, 2025

    Calif. Residents Sue Feds Over Tribe's Federal Status, Casino

    Three Plymouth, California, residents and a civil rights nonprofit have alleged in a suit that the federal government conspired to approve federal recognition, fee-to-trust and gaming applications for the Ione Band of Miwok Indians, questioning the constitutionality of the trust relationship between the U.S. and Indigenous nations.

  • April 15, 2025

    Senate Dems Call For Probe Into IRS Nominee's Business Ties

    The IRS needs to investigate companies associated with President Donald Trump's nominee for IRS commissioner that are suspected of promoting a scheme to sell nonexistent tribal tax credits to investors, two Senate Finance Committee Democrats said in a letter published Tuesday.

Expert Analysis

  • Circuit Judge Writes An Opinion, AI Helps: What Now?

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    Last week's Eleventh Circuit opinion in Snell v. United Specialty Insurance, notable for a concurrence outlining the use of artificial intelligence to evaluate a term's common meaning, is hopefully the first step toward developing a coherent basis for the judiciary's generative AI use, says David Zaslowsky at Baker McKenzie.

  • Perspectives

    Trauma-Informed Legal Approaches For Pro Bono Attorneys

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    As National Trauma Awareness Month ends, pro bono attorneys should nevertheless continue to acknowledge the mental and physical effects of trauma, allowing them to better represent clients, and protect themselves from compassion fatigue and burnout, say Katherine Cronin at Stinson and Katharine Manning at Blackbird.

  • Series

    Playing Music Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My deep and passionate involvement in playing, writing and producing music equipped me with skills — like creativity, improvisation and problem-solving — that contribute to the success of my legal career, says attorney Kenneth Greene.

  • How Attys Can Avoid Pitfalls When Withdrawing From A Case

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    The Trump campaign's recent scuffle over its bid to replace its counsel in a pregnancy retaliation suit offers a chance to remind attorneys that many troubles inherent in withdrawing from a case can be mitigated or entirely avoided by communicating with clients openly and frequently, says Christopher Konneker at Orsinger Nelson.

  • Using A Children's Book Approach In Firm Marketing Content

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    From “The Giving Tree” to “Where the Wild Things Are,” most children’s books are easy to remember because they use simple words and numbers to tell stories with a human impact — a formula law firms should emulate in their marketing content to stay front of mind for potential clients, says Seema Desai Maglio at The Found Word.

  • Opioid Suits Offer Case Study In Abatement Expert Testimony

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    Settlements in the opioid multidistrict litigation provide useful insight into leveraging expert discovery on abatement in public nuisance cases, and would not have been successful without testimony on the costs necessary to lessen the harms of the opioid crisis, says David Burnett at DiCello Levitt.

  • Opinion

    NEPA Final Rule Unlikely To Speed Clean Energy Projects

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    A recent final rule from the White House Council on Environmental Quality purports to streamline federal environmental reviews to accelerate the construction of renewable energy infrastructure — but it also expands consideration of climate change and environmental justice, creating vast new opportunities for litigation and delay, says Thomas Prevas at Saul Ewing.

  • Series

    Being An EMT Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    While some of my experiences as an emergency medical technician have been unusually painful and searing, the skills I’ve learned — such as triage, empathy and preparedness — are just as useful in my work as a restructuring lawyer, says Marshall Huebner at Davis Polk.

  • In Debate Over High Court Wording, 'Wetland' Remains Murky

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    Though the U.S. Supreme Court's decision limiting the Clean Water Act’s wetlands jurisdiction is now a year old, Sackett v. EPA's practical consequences for property owners are still evolving as federal agencies and private parties advance competing interpretations of the court's language and methods for distinguishing wetlands in lower courts, says Neal McAliley at Carlton Fields.

  • Perspectives

    Public Interest Attorneys Are Key To Preserving Voting Rights

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    Fourteen states passed laws restricting or limiting voting access last year, highlighting the need to support public interest lawyers who serve as bulwarks against such antidemocratic actions — especially in an election year, says Verna Williams at Equal Justice Works.

  • Exploring An Alternative Model Of Litigation Finance

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    A new model of litigation finance, most aptly described as insurance-backed litigation funding, differs from traditional funding in two key ways, and the process of securing it involves three primary steps, say Bob Koneck, Christopher Le Neve Foster and Richard Butters at Atlantic Global Risk LLC.

  • What To Know About NIGC's Internal Review Process

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    If the National Indian Gaming Commission disapproves of a tribal management contract for gaming operations, it's important to properly go through the commission's internal hearing mechanism before litigating in federal court, or else an action may be dismissed for failure to exhaust administrative remedies, says Rebecca Chapman at the University at Buffalo School of Law.

  • Series

    Teaching Yoga Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Being a yoga instructor has helped me develop my confidence and authenticity, as well as stress management and people skills — all of which have crossed over into my career as an attorney, says Laura Gongaware at Clyde & Co.

  • A Vision For Economic Clerkships In The Legal System

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    As courts handle increasingly complex damages analyses involving vast amounts of data, an economic clerkship program — integrating early-career economists into the judicial system — could improve legal outcomes and provide essential training to clerks, say Mona Birjandi at Data for Decisions and Matt Farber at Secretariat.

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Text Message Data

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    Electronically stored information on cellphones, and in particular text messages, can present unique litigation challenges, and recent court decisions demonstrate that counsel must carefully balance what data should be preserved, collected, reviewed and produced, say attorneys at Sidley.

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