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Native American
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February 14, 2024
USDA Says $20M Will Help Tribes Access Climate Market
Federally recognized tribes and Alaska Native corporations and villages are getting a $20 million bump to broaden their access to emerging climate markets as a way to address ongoing climate change, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Wednesday.
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February 14, 2024
Energy Co. Says Tribal Court Being Used To Duck $12M Award
Merit Energy Operations is asking a federal district court to block two Wyoming tribes from using the tribal judicial system to vacate a $12.6 million arbitration award against them, saying the move is a blatant attempt to escape the ultimate result in the case.
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February 14, 2024
Feds, Power Line Developer Decry Tribes' Suit As 'Too Late'
The federal government and SunZia Transmission LLC, the developer of a 550-mile power line, urged an Arizona federal judge Tuesday to deny a request from tribes and conservations groups for a preliminary injunction halting the project's construction, saying they waited too long to make their challenge.
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February 14, 2024
Navajo Say Hopi Tribe Bid To Join Land Trust Suit Is Untimely
The Navajo Nation has said the Hopi Tribe's attempt to intervene in its lawsuit against the U.S. government over a land trust and casino road easement dispute is untimely, coming after nearly four years of litigation.
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February 14, 2024
Patterson Earnhart Names Equity Partners, Opens Wis. Office
Native American law firm Patterson Earnhart Real Bird & Wilson LLP has announced two new equity partners, one of whom will lead a new office in Wisconsin.
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February 13, 2024
Feds Want 'Free Pass' Out Of Climate Suit Trial, Youths Say
Twenty-one plaintiffs suing to force the U.S. government to curb fossil fuel use and cut carbon emissions told the Ninth Circuit on Monday that the government's latest attempt to pause their lawsuit amounts to its shunning procedural rules and asking for "a free pass out of trial" not available to other people.
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February 13, 2024
CMS Must Rethink $4M Training Contract Award, GAO Rules
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will have to reconsider a contract it awarded to a public relations firm after the U.S. Government Accountability Office sustained all four aspects of a competitor's protest over how their bids were evaluated.
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February 13, 2024
Fla. Casinos Ask Justices To Undo Seminole Gaming Compact
Two Florida casino operators are asking the Supreme Court to reverse a lower federal court's decision that said a compact allowing online sports betting off tribal lands between the Sunshine State and the Seminole Tribe is lawful, arguing that the outcome of the case could set a nationwide precedent as an end-run around state and federal limitations in the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act.
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February 13, 2024
Tribes Seek Split Arguments In High Court Healthcare Dispute
Two Native American tribes are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to allow them to separately argue their positions in seeking to uphold rulings that ordered the federal government to reimburse them millions in administrative healthcare costs, adding that the issues presented in the case are at the core of their ability to perform a critical service on their reservation lands.
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February 13, 2024
Arizona Lawmakers Sue Feds Over Grand Canyon Monument
The top Republicans in the Arizona Legislature and the state treasurer are asking a federal court to overturn President Joe Biden's protection of nearly a million acres in northern Arizona, calling his creation of the Baaj Nwaavjo I'tah Kukveni-Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument an "unlawful land grab."
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February 13, 2024
Rancher Accuses Biden Admin Of Abusing Antiquities Act
A sixth-generation Arizona rancher has slapped the Biden administration with a complaint in Arizona federal court, accusing the president of abusing the Antiquities Act to designate a million acres of land in the state as a national monument.
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February 12, 2024
Activists Ask Justices To Reverse Calif. Tribal Casino Approval
An anti-casino advocacy group has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Ninth Circuit decision that upholds the dismissal of its suit, claiming the federal government erred when finding that the Ione Band of Miwok Indians is eligible to open a casino in California.
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February 12, 2024
Utah Defends Standing In Monument Cases Before 10th Circ.
The state of Utah has doubled down in urging the Tenth Circuit to reverse a Utah federal judge's decision dismissing the state's challenge of the Biden administration's redesignation of large swaths of land as part of two national monuments, saying its case should have readily survived the motions to dismiss that led to its downfall.
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February 12, 2024
Judge Amends Camp Operator's $1M Surety Bond Order
A federal district judge has agreed to modify a Montana campground operator's $1 million surety bond stay order pending an appeal to the Ninth Circuit, saying the company's proposed substitution of its projected net income for 2024 raises questions about its reported principal income.
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February 12, 2024
Canadian High Court Affirms Native Child Welfare Act Lawful
The Supreme Court of Canada has determined that federal legislation giving Indigenous nations jurisdiction over their own child welfare services is constitutional, reversing a lower court's decision that partially invalidated the law after Quebec officials argued the Trudeau administration overstepped its legislative authority in approving it.
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February 09, 2024
9th Circ. Judge Doubts Continued Role In Tribal Fishing Fight
A Ninth Circuit judge on Friday questioned whether federal courts' 50-year stretch of close supervision of Washington tribal fishing rights was too long, in a case involving the Stillaguamish Tribe of Indians' dispute with several other tribes involving fishing territories in coastal waters.
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February 09, 2024
SunZia Line Developer To Argue Against DOI Injunction Bid
The developer of the proposed SunZia Southwest Transmission Project can intervene in litigation seeking to halt construction of its 550-mile powerline, a federal district court ruled, saying that disposing of the motion may impair the company's ability to protect its interests.
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February 09, 2024
Ore. Dam Can Be Reviewed In 5 Years, Judge Says
An Oregon federal district court judge handed down a five-year pause on a decades-old lawsuit over the Columbia River System dams' hydropower practices, saying a stay best serves the orderly course of justice in litigation that's rife with complex issues.
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February 09, 2024
Feds Ask 9th Circ. To Pull Plug On Ore. Kids' Climate Case
The federal government is urging the Ninth Circuit to overturn an Oregon federal judge's decision to greenlight a trial for a lawsuit filed by young plaintiffs who say current energy policies harm their future by exacerbating climate change.
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February 09, 2024
Off The Bench: NCAA NIL Rule Lives; Dartmouth Players Win
In this week's Off The Bench, a Tennessee judge sends mixed signals to the NCAA in the fight over its NIL recruiting ban, Dartmouth's basketball players tally a win for college athletes' unionization efforts, and DraftKings tries to stop rival Fanatics from benefiting from a former executive who switched sides. If you were on the sidelines over the past week, Law360 is here to clue you in on the biggest sports and betting stories that had our readers talking.
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February 08, 2024
Wash. Judge Says Tribes Can't Seek Cultural Damages
A Washington federal judge said the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation can't seek millions of dollars of cultural resource damages over discharges from a Teck Resources Ltd. unit's smelter in Trail, British Columbia, holding that such damages can't be recovered under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act.
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February 08, 2024
Ariz. County Has Widespread Voting Problems, Suit Alleges
A civil rights nonprofit and an enrolled member of the Choctaw Nation are asking an Arizona state court for a slew of injunctions and declaratory judgments against officials in Maricopa County, arguing that the municipality has widespread problems with absentee ballots, chain-of-custody issues and voting computer software.
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February 08, 2024
New Eagle Rule Aims To Expand Clean Power, Protect Birds
Federal wildlife regulators on Thursday put out streamlined permitting for wind farms, power lines and other projects that unintentionally kill, injure and disturb bald and golden eagles, a move welcomed by clean power and conservation groups.
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February 08, 2024
Wash. Tribes Sue Chevron, Others Over Climate Impacts
A pair of western Washington tribes claim ExxonMobil, BP, Shell, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and Phillips 66 have lied to consumers about the harmful climate impacts of their fossil fuel products, imperiling their lands and resources and citizens' health, according to complaints removed to federal court by Chevron.
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February 08, 2024
States Back ND Lawmaker's Bid To Overturn VRA Ruling
More than two dozen states are backing an Eighth Circuit bid by North Dakota Secretary of State Micheal Howe to overturn a ruling that affirmed Voting Rights Act violations, arguing that despite the law's clarity, the district court allowed private plaintiffs to challenge a redistricting plan.
Expert Analysis
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4 Exercises To Quickly Build Trust On Legal Teams
High-performance legal teams can intentionally build trust through a rigorous approach, including open-ended conversations and personality assessments, to help attorneys bond fast, even if they are new to the firm or group, says Ben Sachs at the University of Virginia School of Law.
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Opinion
Illicit Cannabis Is The Problem, Not State-Legal Markets
A recent White House report on drug trafficking illustrates the public safety risks posed by illicit cannabis markets, and any suggestions by law enforcement agencies that misdirect blame toward the state-legal, strictly regulated cannabis industry should be taken with a grain of salt, say Tommy Tobin and Andrew Kline at Perkins Coie.
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8 Steps To Improve The Perception Of In-House Legal Counsel
With the pandemic paving the way for a reputational shift in favor of in-house corporate legal teams, there are proactive steps that legal departments can take to fully rebrand themselves as strong allies and generators of value, says Allison Rosner at Major Lindsey.
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DOI Enviro Damage Assessment Proposal May Add Flexibility
The U.S. Department of the Interior's recently proposed overhaul of its natural resource damage assessment program suggests that current restrictive formulas may be replaced with a more flexible structure — which could bring major benefits to potentially responsible parties and natural resource trustees, says Brian Ferrasci-O’Malley at Nossaman.
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Procedure Rule 7.1 Can Simplify Litigators' Diversity Analysis
A recent amendment to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 7.1 will help trial courts determine whether the parties to a case are diverse, and may also allow litigators to more quickly determine whether they can remove certain cases to federal court, says Steve Shapiro at Schnader Harrison.
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Atty Conflict Discussions In Idaho Murder Case And Beyond
A public defender's representation of the accused University of Idaho murderer after prior representation of a victim's parent doesn't constitute a violation of conflict of interest rules, but the case prompts ethical questions about navigating client conflicts in small-town criminal defense and big-city corporate law alike, say Hilary Gerzhoy and Charles Loeser at HWG.
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Higher Ed Can't Recycle Cannabis Policies For Psychedelics
As efforts to legalize and decriminalize psychedelic substances proliferate, higher education must recognize the nuanced legal issues that distinguish these drugs from cannabis, and consider a unique approach to the possession, use and research of psychedelics on campus, say attorneys at Saul Ewing.
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Why The Original 'Rocket Docket' Will Likely Resume Its Pace
Though the Eastern District of Virginia, for decades the fastest federal trial court in the country, experienced significant pandemic-related slowdowns, several factors unique to the district suggest that it will soon return to its speedy pace, say Dabney Carr and Robert Angle at Troutman Pepper.
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How Gov't Enviro Justice Push May Affect Developers
Attorneys at Crowell & Moring contextualize the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's recent guidance on environmental justice and permitting decisions, and the U.S. Department of Energy's requests for input on using grants to achieve EJ goals, highlighting practical implications for project developers and other industry participants.
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Opinion
International Reps Would Advance Native American Interests
As Congress debates granting the Cherokee Nation a representative in the U.S. House of Representatives, another method of advancing tribal nations' political and commercial goals would be to appoint honorary tribal representatives, similar to diplomatic consuls, in other countries, says consultant Lincoln McCurdy.
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The Discipline George Santos Would Face If He Were A Lawyer
Rep. George Santos, who has become a national punchline for his alleged lies, hasn't faced many consequences yet, but if he were a lawyer, even his nonwork behavior would be regulated by the American Bar Association's Model Rules of Professional Conduct, and violations in the past have led to sanctions and even disbarment, says Mark Hinderks at Stinson.
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A Litigation Move That Could Conserve Discovery Resources
Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben proposes the preliminary legal opinion procedure — seeking a court's opinion on a disputed legal standard at the outset, rather than the close, of discovery — as a useful resource-preservation tool for legally complex, discovery-intensive litigation.
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Litigators Should Approach AI Tools With Caution
Artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT hold potential to streamline various aspects of the litigation process, resulting in improved efficiency and outcomes, but should be carefully double-checked for confidentiality, plagiarism and accuracy concerns, say Zachary Foster and Melanie Kalmanson at Quarles & Brady.
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Opinion
Religious Claims Shouldn't Put US Minerals Off Limits
To build our high-tech future, the U.S. will need to access the strategic mineral resources found on publicly owned federal lands — but to do so, we will need a better tool to adjudicate tribal religious claims than the overly restrictive Religious Freedom Restoration Act, says Tony Francois at Briscoe Ivester.
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How Proposed BOEM Regs Will Boost Offshore Wind Projects
Newly proposed offshore wind project regulations from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management represent a substantial regulatory shift that will improve transparency around the timing of lease auctions, streamline approval and oversight for projects in development, and provide needed guidance for future projects, say attorneys at K&L Gates.