In 2023, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) placed Twenty-Nine Palms Band of Mission Indians (Twenty-Nine Palms), a federally recognized Indian tribe that sells cigarettes on sovereign reservations...more
The U.S. Supreme Court recently decided SEC v. Jarkesy. That decision held that individuals subject to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC or Commission) enforcement actions in which the SEC seeks civil penalties for...more
On February 21, the Minnesota Attorney General settled an action against executives of a Montana-based tribal lender for alleged predatory lending practices. In its complaint, filed in October 2023, the AG alleged the company...more
On April 15, the Supreme Court denied a petition for certiorari filed by Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe, leaving intact the Federal Circuit’s ruling that tribal sovereign immunity does not apply in inter partes reviews. See Saint...more
On July 20, 2018, the Federal Circuit held that tribal sovereign immunity is not available as a defense in IPR. Allergan Pharmaceuticals owned patents that it had asserted in litigation against various generic...more
Federal Circuit Summary - Before Dyk, Moore, and Reyna. Appeal from the Patent Trial and Appeal Board. Summary: Tribal sovereign immunity does not shield Indian Tribe owned patents from IPR. ...more
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB) decision finding that tribal sovereign immunity does not apply to Inter Partes Review (IPR) proceedings. In so holding, the...more
Ever since President Trump took office in January 2017, several questions have arisen within the environmental community regarding how his administration will change the legal and enforcement priorities of the United States...more
Three memos with potentially important implications for enforcement were recently issued—one by EPA and two by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ)....more
Despite a stronger global economic outlook than we’ve seen in years, the world’s central bankers appear loath to let go of stimulus measures while lower-than-expected inflation bedevils them....more
On January 3, 2017, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California certified for appellate review its August 31, 2016 Order finding that a California-based payday lending company used a “rent-a-tribe” scheme...more
In a state enforcement action alleging violations of California’s lending law and seeking to enjoin continued lending to state residents, a California Court of Appeal has ruled that tribal sovereign immunity shielded the two...more