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Representative Client Successes:

 

Litigation​

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  • Rogers-Dial v. Rincon Band of Luiseno Indians, 2011 WL 2619232 (S.D. Cal. 2011).  Obtained dismissal for failure of the non-Indian plaintiff to exhaust tribal court remedies.

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  • Rincon Band of Luiseno Mission Indians of the Rincon Reservation v. Schwarzenegger,  602 F.3d 1019 (9th Cir. 2010), cert. denied, 131 S.Ct 3055 (2011).  Successfully sued then-Governor Schwarzenegger for bad faith under IGRA on behalf of the Band, which now games under Secretarial Procedures, free of state taxation.

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  • MM&A Productions v. Yavapai-Apache Nation, 2009 WL 3955297 (2009). Obtained dismissal of non-Indian company’s multimillion-dollar breach of contract claims against the tribe and the tribe’s casino.

 

  • Spokane Tribe of Indians v. Luce, No. CV-06-00049 (E.D. Wash 2007).  Obtained Consent Decree whereby the Tribe receives 75% of the state fuel tax for all fuel purchased from tribal fuel retailers.

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  • Gutierrez v. Spokane Tribal Gaming Commissioners, Spokane Tribal Court of Appeals No. 2005-01064-TD, No. 2005-01089-TD and No. 2005-01033-TD. Obtained dismissal of $30.6 million dollar damages claim, which was affirmed on appeal.

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  • U.S. v. Muckleshoot Indian Tribe, 235 F.3d 429 (9th Cir. 2000).  Represented the Suquamish Tribe in defense of the U.S. District Court’s determination of Muckleshoot usual and accustomed fishing areas.

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Permitting Approvals/Related Litigation:

 

  • February 2005-June 2016: Assisted Spokane Tribe in securing a rare Two-Part Determination under 25 USC 2719((b)(1)(A) for the Tribe’s “off-reservation” trust lands in Airway Heights, WA. The Tribe submitted the initial request to the BIA in February 2005.  Representing the Spokane Tribe in ongoing, related litigation in Kalispel Tribe of Indians and Spokane County v. U.S. Dep’t of Interior, et al., Consolidated Case Nos. 17-cv-138 and 17-cv-220 (E.D. WA).  Despite the ongoing litigation,, the Tribe obtained financing and constructed Phase 1a of its mixed use development, and the Tribe opened its new “Spokane Tribe Casino” in January, 2018.​

 

  • June 2016-Present, Assisting the Confederated Tribes of Coos, Lower Umpqua and Siuslaw Indians in protecting their cultural and natural resources in FERC Docket No. PF17-4-000, Jordan Cove-Pacific Connector Project, and associated local, county and state permitting approvals.  Representing the Tribe in related litigation, including Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals Docket No. 2016-095 (2017) Oregon Shores v. Coos County, and Oregon Energy Facility Siting Council Case In re the Matter of the Application for Site Certification for the South Dunes Power Plant (2016).

 

 

Intergovernmental Agreements

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  • Class III Gaming Compact between the Spokane Tribe of Indians and the State of Washington of 2007, and amendments of 2009 and 2015.

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  • Cigarette Tax Agreement between the Spokane Tribe and the State of Washington of 2008. Cigarette Tax Agreement between the Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe and the State of Washington of 2011.

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  • Consent Decree-style fuel tax agreement between the Spokane Tribe and the State of Washington/Consent Decree of 2009, in Spokane Tribe v. Luce.

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  • Fuel Tax Agreement between the Shoalwater Bay Tribe and the State of Washington, of 2010.

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  • Intergovernmental Agreement between the Spokane Tribe, the City of Airway Heights and Spokane County, of 2010, regarding the provision of services to the Tribe’s 145 acre trust property within the City of Airway Heights.

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  • Memorandum of Agreement Between the Spokane Tribe and the City of Airway Heights, of 2010, regarding impact mitigation in the event gaming is approved for the Tribe’s 145 acre trust property within the City of Airway Heights pursuant to 25 U.S.C. § 2719(b)(1)(A).

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