LAW360 (Native feed)

A Wisconsin federal judge has ruled that the state generally can't tax Indian-owned land on four Chippewa tribes' reservations, but also said that such land can be taxed once it's sold to non-Indians, even if tribe members eventually buy it back.

The White House on Monday rescinded a January rule promulgated by the Trump administration that established procedures for guidance documents from the Council on Environmental Quality, saying the rule would interfere with its own priorities.

A California tribe urged the Ninth Circuit not to make it arbitrate a dispute with a union seeking to represent workers at its casino, saying state policy making tribes ease union organizing in order to operate casinos may be moot after the court said federal labor law applies to tribal employers.

After overseeing cases ranging from employment and Native American law to a major solar energy tax write-off scheme, Utah U.S. District Judge David O. Nuffer's transition to senior status next year will give President Joe Biden a rare and delicate red-state opening.

A group of insurance companies urged a California federal judge on Friday to put an end to a proposed class action filed by the Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin seeking COVID-19 business interruption coverage, arguing that their insurance policies clearly include virus exclusions that foreclose the tribe's bid for coverage.

Casino owner Mohawk Gaming Enterprises LLC has asked a New York federal judge overseeing its lawsuit for COVID-19 insurance coverage to take into account another district judge's recent ruling in a commercial landlord's suit seeking payment from its insurer for pandemic-related losses.

The former head of since-dissolved lender Think Finance has reached a $3 million deal with the state of Pennsylvania to end claims that he helped the company get around limits on interest rates in order to dole out illegal payday loans.

President Joe Biden's discretionary funding proposal would increase the U.S. Department of the Interior's spending on tribal programs by $600 million, part of plans to increase funding for tribal health, housing, environmental and education programs for fiscal year 2022.

Even after over two months in power, the Biden administration told a D.C. federal judge Friday that it hasn't decided whether to force the Dakota Access Pipeline to shut down pending a fresh review of its environmental impacts.

The Second Circuit on Friday refused to reconsider a panel ruling that upheld a $225 million award that an arbitration panel issued to the state of New York in a gambling compact dispute with the Seneca Nation of Indians. 

The current high demand for midlevel associates provides them a rare opportunity to potentially explore new practice areas, but associates should first ask themselves six questions to begin figuring out why a change sounds appealing, says Stephanie Biderman at Major Lindsey.

A Utah-based environmental group has sued the U.S. Department of the Interior in D.C. federal court over its decision to offer historic and sacred land for 32 oil and gas leases, claiming the government failed to consider archaeological harms that may result.

A Virginia federal judge has given an early green light to a revised $182 million deal to settle illegal online lending claims against tribe-owned American Web Loan Inc. that increases cash payments to the proposed class by $21 million and cancels thousands of additional loans.

Despite drugmaker warnings of "harmful and unwarranted" disruption, an Illinois magistrate judge withdrew Thursday from Chicago's bellwether case against drugmakers in multidistrict opioid litigation after the city flagged his sister's new role overseeing thousands of opioid cases for AbbVie Inc.

Purdue Pharma has asked a New York bankruptcy judge for another month of relief from lawsuits over its opioid sales, saying negotiations on the final form of its Chapter 11 plan are at a "critical stage."

The Federal Communications Commission has accepted more than 50 applications from tribes aiming to take advantage of the agency's rural tribal priority window for licenses within the 2.5 gigahertz band, which is normally reserved for educational and broadband purposes.

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly has signed into law a bill that authorizes the state's attorney general to coordinate law enforcement training to address the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous persons, approving the measure after it passed unanimously in both legislative houses.

To truly support a client going through a complicated lawsuit or a painful experience, lawyers must think beyond interpreting legal guidelines and navigating court proceedings, says attorney Scott Corwin.

Investment firms that include tribes, commercial fishermen and conservation groups have called on Congress and the Biden administration to permanently protect Alaska's Bristol Bay from development like Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd.'s proposed open-pit mine.

The Ohio federal judge supervising multidistrict opioid litigation selected five additional cases Wednesday for bellwether trials against major pharmacy chains, while flatly rejecting assertions that he's punishing the companies for not settling.