Harvest Institute Freedmen Cert Petition (Challenge to Cobell Settlement)

Here is the petition in Harvest Freedmen Institute v. United States:

Harvest Inst. Freedmen Cert Petition

Lower court materials here.

Opposition Briefs in Good Bear v. Cobell Cert Petition

Here:

Federal Cert Opp in Goodbear

Cobell Cert Opp in Goodbear

Cobell Class Cert Opposition Brief (Craven Petition)

Here:

Cobell Cert Opp Brief

Goodbear v. Cobell Cert Petition

Here:

Goodbear v Cobell Cert Petition

Questions presented:

I. Whether a settlement class action can be approved over timely objections interposed by class members when the single point of requisite commonality found by the D.C. Circuit is by definition not a common issue of law or fact applicable to all members of the class.

II. Whether a mandatory settlement class action can be approved over timely objections by a class member that she should be permitted to opt out of the settlement that provides for only a monetary payment?

Federal Cert Opposition Brief in Craven v. Cobell

Here:

Federal Cert Opp

ICT on Keith Harper and Cobell & Other Trust Settlements

Here.

An excerpt:

According to press reports, Harper, who was registered as a lobbyist for tribes in 2008, did have influence at the U.S. Department of the Interior on Indian issues while serving as a “team lead,” and under transition team guidelines, he was allowed to offer input on his personal work, which focused largely on Indian and tribal trust issues since the 1990s. This has led to the question of whether Harper recommended the hiring of the very administration officials with whom he and his firm later negotiated trust settlements. Another vexing question is whether there was a deal struck between Harper and administration officials that enhanced his firm’s financial gain from the Cobell settlement, or from other trust cases that he and his firm handled for tribes.

Keith Harper 270x180 White House Says Lawyer in Cobell Deal Recused on Administration Conflicts; Facts Contradict

Keith Harper, a partner with Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton

A tribal trust case Harper and his firm worked on for the Passamaquoddy Tribe resulted in a settlement with the Obama administration of $12 million this April. In that agreement, the federal government stipulated that the lawyers were to be paid 15 percent of the settlement, $1.8 million. The agreement also said that fees for Harper’s firm were to be paid directly from the federal government. Dozens of other tribal trust settlements announced at the same time were not structured in this manner; instead, tribal officials received the full settlement, and the tribes then decided how to pay their lawyers—and in all known cases at rates lower than what Harper’s firm received for its work for the Passamaquoddy Tribe. There were 41 tribal trust settlements announced at the time.

Expect Cert Petition in Kim Craven Appeal to Cobell Settlement Next Week

Here.

Here are the musings of Ted Frank (Kim’s former attorney) on the D.C. Circuit decision.

UPDATE: Apparently, Rob C. at ICT has the draft, and published most of the details here.

ICT Article on Paul Ryan’s American Indian Outlook

Here.

ICT: Private Cobell Lawyers Oppose NARF Fee Request

Here is today’s ICT article.

Materials referenced in the article are here:

Opposition to NARF Fees 2011

Supp. Memo. Opposing NARF Fees