Native American

  • August 15, 2024

    Montana Sen. Tester Says BIA Must Do More To Protect Tribes

    The senior U.S. senator from Montana has asked the Biden administration to authorize an independent review of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' efforts to ensure the public safety of Native American tribes in the state, saying a dire lack of trained law enforcement officers is "unacceptable."

  • August 14, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Won't Rehear Utah Tribe's Water Dispute

    A Federal Circuit panel refused to rehear a Utah tribe's challenge to the U.S. government that looked to overturn a Federal Claims Court ruling that held it didn't violate a 19th century law by not securing new water and infrastructure rights for the Indigenous community.

  • August 14, 2024

    Treasury Says $82M Will Boost Tribal Small Business Growth

    An investment by the U.S. Treasury in a consortium of Alaskan tribes is expected to infuse as much as $830 million in additional private sector investments throughout the state and in Indigenous-owned companies as part of the most expansive backing of small-business financing for tribal governments in history.

  • August 14, 2024

    Oregon Gets New 600-Acre Wildlife Refuge

    Oregon is home to a new 600-acre wildlife refuge in the Willamette Valley between Salem and Eugene intended to preserve a variety of animal and plant species, the U.S. Department of the Interior said Tuesday.

  • August 14, 2024

    10th Circ. Wipes Out Fight Over Obama-Era Methane Rule

    The Tenth Circuit has thrown out a lower court ruling partially invalidating an Obama-era rule limiting venting and flaring from oil and gas wells on federal land, saying a new rule crafted by the Biden administration moots the entire case.

  • August 14, 2024

    The Biggest Enviro Decisions Of 2024: Midyear Report

    2024 has already been one of the most consequential years for environmental law, and it's only half over. The U.S. Supreme Court issued groundbreaking administrative law decisions, while lower appeals courts resolved questions about California's right to promulgate its own vehicle emissions standards, among other rulings.

  • August 13, 2024

    Ill. Casino Can't Claim Immunity In Competition Row, City Says

    An Illinois city wants the Seventh Circuit to deny a proposed tribal casino's appeal that seeks to undo a lower court order that found the municipality didn't discriminate against it by choosing three other competitors to operate the venues, arguing that sovereign immunity can't protect the case from dismissal.

  • August 13, 2024

    Ariz. Tribe, Green Groups Want In On Industry Copper Rule Suit

    A Native American tribe and the Sierra Club are squaring off against mining companies challenging the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's recent rule, which is intended to reduce toxic, cancer-causing emissions from copper-smelting facilities.

  • August 13, 2024

    Ruling On Reservation Shooting Can't Be Delayed, Feds Say

    The U.S. government wants an Arizona federal court to deny a discovery bid by the family of a Tohono O'odham Nation man that seeks the names of the Border Patrol agents who discharged the weapons that killed him, saying the dispute shouldn't hold its motion to dismiss the lawsuit in abeyance.

  • August 13, 2024

    Las Vegas Jury Deals Out A Verdict Of No Infringement

    A lawsuit surrounding a "rotatable shuffler" that has been going on in Nevada federal court for the better part of a decade has finally ended, with a Las Vegas jury finding that the maker of a roulette-style gambling machine did not infringe a patent covering a different kind of card shuffling machine.

  • August 13, 2024

    North Dakota Officials OK Pot Legalization Ballot Measure

    North Dakota voters will have another opportunity to legalize adult-use marijuana on Election Day this November after state officials said that reformers had submitted enough signatures to qualify the question for the ballot.

  • August 12, 2024

    Museum Returns 150-Year-Old Press To Cherokee Nation

    A nearly century-and-a-half-old printing press used to publish a newspaper in the Cherokee language is now in the hands of the descendants of its Indigenous owners following yearslong, voluntary repatriation talks between the city of Tulsa and the Cherokee Nation to return the machine. 

  • August 12, 2024

    Groups Call On IHS To End Amalgam Use On Tribal Lands

    A consortium of groups, including Consumers for Dental Choice and the International Indian Treaty Council, are calling on the U.S. Indian Health Service and other governments to immediately stop using mercury-containing dental fillings on Native Americans.

  • August 12, 2024

    Calif. Tribe Loses Bid To Overturn BIA's Organization Rule

    The U.S. Department of the Interior's decision to expand the group eligible to participate in the California Valley Miwok Tribe's organization was not arbitrary and capricious, a D.C. federal judge ruled Monday, saying the government made reasonable efforts to ensure the process was open to the entire tribe.

  • August 12, 2024

    The Biggest Telecom Developments Of 2024: Midyear Report

    The first half of 2024 saw sweeping change in the telecom sphere as the Federal Communications Commission's Democratic majority pushed through controversial net neutrality rules and confronted challenges on artificial intelligence, national security and more, but also faces the prospect of new headwinds as the nation's top court pared back powers of federal agencies.

  • August 12, 2024

    Ease Letter Of Credit Rules For Tribal Broadband, FCC Urged

    Tribal telecom carriers have called on the Federal Communications Commission to ease or eliminate bank credit restrictions for tribes bidding on federally funded broadband deployment projects, pointing to unique challenges they face in securing the required letters of credit.

  • August 12, 2024

    Construction Co. Says Tribe Can't Escape $1.9M Wage Suit

    A New York construction company is fighting a bid by an entity created by the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe to dismiss a $1.9 million wage dispute for work done on an $11.75 million Cape Cod, Massachusetts, housing project, arguing that sovereign immunity can't protect it from the litigation.

  • August 12, 2024

    Protest Tossed After Navy Cancels $12M Software Deal

    A Court of Federal Claims judge has dismissed a technology company's protest over the U.S. Navy's alleged violation of a federal preference for commercial products when it issued a sole-source software contract, finding cancellation of the deal made the dispute effectively moot.

  • August 12, 2024

    Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

    Multimillion-dollar share conversions, power struggles in a classic rock band, a good deal for fandom collectibles, and a pindown by two heavyweights were all part of the spectacle in Delaware's Court of Chancery last week. New cases involved pharmaceutical companies, cannabis, drones and liquid-gas exports. In case you missed it, here's the latest from the Chancery Court.

  • August 09, 2024

    RNC, Ariz. Lawmakers Ask Justice Kagan To Halt Voting Order

    The Republican National Committee and the leaders of Arizona's House and Senate want Justice Elena Kagan to block a district court's injunction that bars the state from prohibiting individuals without proper citizenship documentation from voting, saying the order is an "unprecedented abrogation" of the state legislature's sovereign authority.

  • August 09, 2024

    The Long Road To Legalizing Pot In Florida And South Dakota

    Voters in Florida and South Dakota will have the opportunity this Election Day to legalize recreational marijuana for adults 21 and over, and while the two efforts vary in their particulars, they both follow years of work by legalizers to craft a proposal that could gain court approval.

  • August 09, 2024

    NY Counties Say Cayuga Nation's 911 Suit Not An Emergency

    Two New York counties have urged a federal district court to toss the Cayuga Nation's lawsuit accusing the counties of refusing to forward the reservation's 911 calls to the tribe's police department unless it pays, arguing the tribe's civil rights protection claims are not enforceable.

  • August 09, 2024

    DOL Settles White Mountain Apache Tribe's ERISA Suit

    A D.C. federal judge has signed off on an agreement between the U.S. Department of Labor and the White Mountain Apache Tribe that settles its ERISA suit claiming the agency unlawfully slapped it with $140,000 in penalties after abruptly enforcing certain pension reporting requirements.

  • August 08, 2024

    Feds Award $36M To Boost Wyo. Indigenous Ecotourism

    The Biden-Harris administration has announced that it plans to award about $36 million to a tribal economic development fund to stimulate growth on or near the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming.

  • August 08, 2024

    Tribe Must Arbitrate Union Card Check Dispute, Judge Says

    A California tribe that owns a casino must go to arbitration with UNITE HERE over a spat concerning a representation process with a card check procedure, a federal district court has determined, saying the parties agreed to arbitrate disputes about interpretations of a 2017 accord.

Expert Analysis

  • Opinion

    Requiring Leave To File Amicus Briefs Is A Bad Idea

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    A proposal to amend the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure that would require parties to get court permission before filing federal amicus briefs would eliminate the long-standing practice of consent filing and thereby make the process less open and democratic, says Lawrence Ebner at the Atlantic Legal Foundation and DRI Center.

  • 4 Ways To Motivate Junior Attorneys To Bring Their Best

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    As Gen Z and younger millennial attorneys increasingly express dissatisfaction with their work and head for the exits, the lawyers who manage them must understand and attend to their needs and priorities to boost engagement and increase retention, says Stacey Schwartz at Katten.

  • How IRA Unlocks Green Energy Investments For Tribes

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    An Inflation Reduction Act provision going into effect May 10 represents a critical juncture for Native American tribes, offering promising economic opportunity in green energy investment, but requiring a proactive and informed approach when taking advantage of newly available tax incentives, say attorneys at Lewis Brisbois.

  • What Nevada 'Superbasin' Ruling Means For Water Users

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    The Nevada Supreme Court's recent decision in Sullivan v. Lincoln County Water District, affirming that the state can manage multiple predesignated water basins as one "superbasin," significantly broadens the scope of water constraints that project developers in Nevada and throughout the West may need to consider, say attorneys at Perkins Coie.

  • Series

    Serving As A Sheriff's Deputy Made Me A Better Lawyer

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    Skills developed during my work as a reserve deputy — where there was a need to always be prepared, decisive and articulate — transferred to my practice as an intellectual property litigator, and my experience taught me that clients often appreciate and relate to the desire to participate in extracurricular activities, says Michael Friedland at Friedland Cianfrani.

  • Fears About The End Of Chevron Deference Are Overblown

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    While some are concerned about repercussions if the U.S. Supreme Court brings an end to Chevron deference in the Loper and Relentless cases this term, agencies and attorneys would survive just fine under the doctrines that have already begun to replace it, say Daniel Wolff and Henry Leung at Crowell & Moring.

  • Former Minn. Chief Justice Instructs On Writing Better Briefs

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    Former Minnesota Supreme Court Chief Justice Lorie Gildea, now at Greenberg Traurig, offers strategies on writing more effective appellate briefs from her time on the bench.

  • Stay Interviews Are Key To Retaining Legal Talent

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    Even as the economy shifts and layoffs continue, law firms still want to retain their top attorneys, and so-called stay interviews — informal conversations with employees to identify potential issues before they lead to turnover — can be a crucial tool for improving retention and morale, say Tina Cohen Nicol and Kate Reder Sheikh at Major Lindsey.

  • Ruling In La. May Undercut EPA Enviro Justice Efforts

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    A Louisiana federal court's recent decision in Louisiana v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will likely serve as a template for other states to oppose the EPA's use of disparate impact analyses in Title VI civil rights cases aimed at advancing environmental justice policies and investigations, say Jonathan Brightbill and Joshua Brown at Winston & Strawn.

  • Series

    Spray Painting Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My experiences as an abstract spray paint artist have made me a better litigator, demonstrating — in more ways than one — how fluidity and flexibility are necessary parts of a successful legal practice, says Erick Sandlin at Bracewell.

  • 2nd Circ. Baby Food Ruling Disregards FDA's Expertise

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    The Second Circuit's recent decision in White v. Beech-Nut Nutrition, refusing to defer litigation over heavy metals in baby food until the U.S. Food and Drug Administration weighs in on the issue, provides no indication that courts will resolve the issue with greater efficiency than the FDA, say attorneys at Phillips Lytle.

  • Opinion

    Judicial Independence Is Imperative This Election Year

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    As the next election nears, the judges involved in the upcoming trials against former President Donald Trump increasingly face political pressures and threats of violence — revealing the urgent need to safeguard judicial independence and uphold the rule of law, says Benes Aldana at the National Judicial College.

  • Series

    Riding My Peloton Bike Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Using the Peloton platform for cycling, running, rowing and more taught me that fostering a mind-body connection will not only benefit you physically and emotionally, but also inspire stamina, focus, discipline and empathy in your legal career, says Christopher Ward at Polsinelli.

  • New Eagle Take Permit Rule Should Help Wind Projects Soar

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    The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's recently issued final rule revising the eagle take permit process should help wind energy developers obtain incidental take permits through a more transparent and expedited process, and mitigate the risk of improper take penalties faced by wind projects, says Jon Micah Goeller at Husch Blackwell.

  • Spartan Arbitration Tactics Against Well-Funded Opponents

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    Like the ancient Spartans who held off a numerically superior Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae, trial attorneys and clients faced with arbitration against an opponent with a bigger war chest can take a strategic approach to create a pass to victory, say Kostas Katsiris and Benjamin Argyle at Venable.

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