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Native American
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May 30, 2024
BNSF Says It Owes Tribe Up To $30M For Oil Train Trespasses
BNSF Railway Co. said Wednesday it should pay a Washington tribe either $10 million or $30 million for years of illegally running oil cars across tribal territory, after a federal judge rejected both the railroad's $7 million and the tribe's $445 million calculations.
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May 30, 2024
NCAA To End Transfer Rules In Deal With DOJ
The NCAA agreed on Thursday to stop enforcing all rules governing athletes transferring from one institution to another, as part of a proposed consent decree filed by the U.S. Department of Justice to settle an antitrust suit against the organization by 10 states and the District of Columbia.
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May 30, 2024
Enviro Groups Launch Fresh Alaska LNG Fight In 9th Circ.
Environmental groups on Thursday petitioned the Ninth Circuit to overturn federal approvals for the Alaska liquefied natural gas project covering impacts on endangered and threatened species, the latest court challenge lodged against the $43 billion project.
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May 29, 2024
Navajo President Denies VP's Claims Of Sexual Misconduct
Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren, while denying allegations by Vice President Richelle Montoya of sexual harassment, bullying and mistreatment, said he intends to ask the tribe's council for workplace policies and procedures for the top offices, arguing that he's well aware that women within the country's largest reservation feel unheard.
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May 29, 2024
Tribe Says Mining Co. Can't Protect 500 Docs In Land Suit
A Native American tribe has asked a Minnesota federal court to ignore a mining company's objections to a magistrate judge's order compelling it to produce nearly 500 documents related to a land exchange dispute, arguing that it failed to establish attorney-client privilege claims.
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May 29, 2024
ND Lawmakers Oppose High Court Review In Subpoena Row
Two North Dakota tribes' effort to toss an Eighth Circuit ruling voiding subpoenas on state lawmakers as part of Voting Rights Act litigation isn't worthy of U.S. Supreme Court review, the North Dakota State Legislative Assembly said Wednesday in urging the high court not to take up the case.
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May 29, 2024
EPA Inspector General Decries Lack Of Funding To Congress
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Inspector General Sean W. O'Donnell expressed concern over his office's lack of funding in a report to Congress on Wednesday, saying the 2024 budget is lower than it was 13 years ago, despite increased oversight responsibilities and personnel costs.
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May 29, 2024
NCAA Must Face Bulk Of Student-Athlete's W.Va. Transfer Suit
A West Virginia federal judge will not allow the NCAA to escape the bulk of an antitrust lawsuit filed by a 22-year-old, ruling he sufficiently supported his claims accusing the organization of contract interference when it deemed him ineligible to play basketball after a midseason transfer.
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May 29, 2024
Texas Judge Bans Using $1.4B Border Wall Funds For Repairs
A Texas federal judge on Wednesday permanently blocked the White House from using $1.4 billion of border wall construction funding for barrier repair, rejecting requests from landowners, contractors and environmental groups to reconsider the scope of the ban.
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May 29, 2024
NLRB Wants Subpoenas Enforced In Calif. Tribal Casino Row
The National Labor Relations Board has gone to federal court to enforce its subpoenas seeking a list of casino workers in a proposed bargaining unit, saying the refusals of a California tribe and a gaming company to provide the information are impeding an agency investigation.
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May 28, 2024
Agribiz Pushes Ninth Circ. To Reverse Land Swap Decision
A global agribusiness with operations in Idaho has again asked the Ninth Circuit to reverse a lower court's "misguided" holding under the National Environmental Policy Act that favored the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes in their challenge to a U.S. Department of the Interior land transfer.
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May 28, 2024
Hawaii Warns Telecom Co.'s Loan Woes Will Affect Consumers
The Department of Hawaiian Home Lands is warning customers who live in the home lands and use Sandwich Isles Communications for phone and internet service that they need to switch companies immediately or risk losing service, but Sandwich Isles is blaming the state agency for the issue.
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May 28, 2024
2 Alaska Tribes Want USDA Broadband Allotment Blocked
Two Alaskan tribes suing the U.S. Department of Agriculture for allegedly failing to get required tribal approval before giving out $70 million in broadband grants are now asking the federal judge hearing the case to stop any funding from going out until their challenge is heard.
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May 28, 2024
Tribe Says Enbridge's Trespass Concern Wasted Court's Time
A Wisconsin tribe has told the Seventh Circuit that Enbridge Energy wasted the court's time raising concerns that an old tribal trespass ordinance could cost the company millions in fines, saying it has nothing to do with the tribe's attempts to stop the Line 5 pipeline.
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May 28, 2024
Approach The Bench: Judge Humetewa Talks Tribal Relations
Before she joined the federal bench in Arizona, Judge Diane Humetewa worked as a jurist on a relatively young court, where she regularly set new legal precedent.
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May 24, 2024
SD Tribe Says Feds Won't Give Up Info Amid Safety Crisis
The Crow Creek Sioux Tribe is suing the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Office of Justice Services, asking a federal district court to order the agency to hand over five years of budget records in an effort to combat a public safety crisis on its reservation.
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May 24, 2024
Treaty Wants Patents To Cite Ties To 'Traditional Knowledge'
Members of the United Nations announced a treaty Friday that would potentially change mandatory patent disclosure rules in order to require applicants to cite "traditional knowledge" developed by "indigenous peoples," requirements that have drawn concerns from lawyers for the pharmaceutical industry in the U.S. and at least one former federal judge.
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May 24, 2024
Florida Urges Quick Appeal Of Wetlands Permitting Decision
The state of Florida has pushed to expedite its appeal of a lower court ruling that stripped the state of its federally delegated authority to permit wetlands development after the D.C. Circuit declined to pause the ruling's implementation earlier this week.
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May 24, 2024
Fla. Jury Finds Ayahuasca Church Liable For Attendee's Death
A Florida state court jury has found that an ayahuasca church is liable for the death of a man who used psychedelic drugs at a weekend retreat in 2018, and has determined that the organization and its owner should pay more than $15 million to the man's parents.
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May 24, 2024
Biden's Judicial Impact And What's Left On The Wish List
President Joe Biden secured confirmation of his 200th federal judge Wednesday and has transformed the judiciary by picking more women and people of color than any other president. But the upcoming election season could derail his hopes of confirming many more judges.
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May 23, 2024
SD Governor Now Banned By All Nine Of State's Tribes
The Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe is asking South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem to clarify and apologize for her repeated statements that tribal leaders are working with drug cartels after its executive council voted to ban her from their lands, becoming the last of the state's nine tribes to take such action.
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May 23, 2024
House Members Approve Closing Delta-8 Hemp 'Loophole'
A U.S. House of Representatives committee on Thursday approved a major change to the statutory definition of hemp and hemp products — which would effectively rewrite national hemp policy if it became law — in the next version of the federal Farm Bill.
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May 23, 2024
Feds Agree To Clean, Close Dump Site For Tribal Nations
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has reached an agreement with the Bureau of Indian Affairs to properly clean and shut down a 70-year-old solid waste dump site on tribal lands in northern Arizona, saying federal law requirements for its closure haven't been followed since 1997.
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May 23, 2024
Enbridge Says Tribe's Trespass Law Could Cost It Millions
Enbridge Energy told the Seventh Circuit that a Wisconsin tribe's recently publicized trespass ordinance could cause the company to pay millions of dollars in civil penalties if the appeals court rules that its 645-mile crude oil pipeline is trespassing on the tribe's land.
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May 23, 2024
FERC Cements 1-Year Window For State, Tribal Water Permits
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Thursday said it will give states and tribes one year to act on water quality certificate requests from developers of any energy project seeking agency approval, the maximum amount of time allowed under the Clean Water Act.
Expert Analysis
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Bid Protest Spotlight: Timeliness, Discovery, Registration Gap
In this month's bid protest roundup, Michaela Thornton at MoFo examines recent decisions from the U.S. Court of Federal Claims and the U.S. Government Accountability Office that consider the timeliness of a protest filing, discovery beyond the administrative record and a lapse in System for Award Management registration.
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Sackett's US Waters Redefinition Is A Boon For Developers
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent landmark ruling in Sackett v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency should reduce real estate project delays, development costs and potential legal exposures — but developers must remain mindful of how new federal and state regulations governing wetlands could affect their plans, say attorneys at Morris Manning.
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Opinion
Despite Its Plan Objections, UST Also Won In Purdue Ch. 11
The Second Circuit’s recent decision approving Purdue Pharma’s reorganization plan is a win even for the dissenting Office of the U.S. Trustee because the decision sets extremely stringent guidelines for future use of nonconsensual third-party releases, say Edward Neiger and Jennifer Christian at Ask.
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Murdaugh Trials Offer Law Firms Fraud Prevention Reminders
As the fraud case against Alex Murdaugh continues to play out, the evidence and narrative presented at his murder trial earlier this year may provide lessons for law firms on implementing robust internal controls that can detect and prevent similar kinds of fraud, say Travis Casner and Helga Zauner at Weaver and Tidwell.
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Firm Tips For Helping New Lawyers Succeed Post-Pandemic
Ten steps can help firms significantly enhance the experience of attorneys who started their careers in the coronavirus pandemic era, including facilitating opportunities for cross-firm connection, which can ultimately help build momentum for business development, says Lana Manganiello at Equinox Strategy Partners.
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Tackling Judge-Shopping Concerns While Honoring Localism
As the debate continues over judge-shopping and case assignments in federal court, policymakers should look to a hybrid model that preserves the benefits of localism for those cases that warrant it, while preventing the appearance of judge-shopping for cases of a more national or widespread character, says Joshua Sohn at the U.S. Department of Justice.
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EPA Nod For La. Program Bodes Well For Carbon Storage
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's recent announcement that it plans to grant Louisiana control over the permitting of carbon dioxide geologic sequestration wells is a welcome development for other states seeking similar authority — and developers seeking carbon storage well permits, say attorneys at Sidley.
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Perspectives
How Attorneys Can Help Combat Anti-Asian Hate
Amid an exponential increase in violence against Asian American and Pacific Islander communities, unique obstacles stand in the way of accountability and justice — but lawyers can effect powerful change by raising awareness, offering legal representation, advocating for victims’ rights and more, say attorneys at Gibson Dunn.
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Opinion
Congress Needs To Enact A Federal Anti-SLAPP Statute
Although many states have passed statutes meant to prevent individuals or entities from filing strategic lawsuits against public participation, other states have not, so it's time for Congress to enact a federal statute to ensure that free speech and petitioning rights are uniformly protected nationwide in federal court, say attorneys at Skadden.
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As Sackett Trims Feds' Wetlands Role, States May Step Up
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision in Sackett v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency extinguishes federal authority over many currently regulated wetlands — meaning that federal permits will no longer be required to discharge pollutants in affected areas, but also that state regulators may take a more active role, say attorneys at Kelley Drye.
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Some Client Speculations On AI And The Law Firm Biz Model
Generative artificial intelligence technologies will put pressure on the business of law as it is structured currently, but clients may end up with more price certainty for legal services, and lawyers may spend more time being lawyers, says Jonathan Cole at Melody Capital.
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EPA's New Rule On Power Plant GHGs Won't End Litigation
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's recent proposal for limiting greenhouse gas emissions from the nation's power plants would use new approaches to reduce carbon pollution in the coming years — but it is unlikely it will end the legal wrangling over climate change mitigation measures, say attorneys at Beveridge & Diamond.
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A Lawyer's Guide To Approaching Digital Assets In Discovery
The booming growth of cryptocurrency and non-fungible tokens has made digital assets relevant in many legal disputes but also poses several challenges for discovery, so lawyers must garner an understanding of the technology behind these assets, the way they function, and how they're held, says Brett Sager at Ehrenstein Sager.
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Opinion
High Court's Ethics Statement Places Justices Above The Law
The U.S. Supreme Court justices' disappointing statement on the court's ethics principles and practices reveals that not only are they satisfied with a status quo in which they are bound by fewer ethics rules than other federal judges, but also that they've twisted the few rules that do apply to them, says David Janovsky at the Project on Government Oversight.
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Opinion
Time For Law Schools To Rethink Unsung Role Of Adjuncts
As law schools prepare for the fall 2023 semester, administrators should reevaluate the role of the underappreciated, indispensable adjunct, and consider 16 concrete actions to improve the adjuncts' teaching experience, overall happiness and feeling of belonging, say T. Markus Funk at Perkins Coie, Andrew Boutros at Dechert and Eugene Volokh at UCLA.