contract breach – Turtle Talk

When an Indian band enters into a contract with a city, waives its sovereign immunity, and consents to be sued only in federal district court, a state court may go no further than interpreting contractual provisions pertaining to jurisdiction to determine whether the court has jurisdiction over a dispute arising under the contract.

Our post with a link to the Minnesota Court of Appeals decision, now reversed, is here.

Minnesota SCT Oral Argument Video in City of Duluth v. Fond du Lac Band Ojibwe

November 7, 2013Matthew L.M. Fletcher2 Comments

Here.

News coverage here.

Lower court materials here.

Lower Brule Community Tribal Business Entity Not Immune from Suit; Some Claims Dismissed on Merits

October 30, 2013October 29, 2013Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here is an update in Seaport Loan Products LLC v. Lower Brule Community (N.Y. Supreme Ct.):

63 Lower Brule Motion to Dismiss

77 Adlwych Capital Partners Opposition

78 Seaport Loan Opposition

82 Lower Brule Reply

86 Transcript

89 Decision on Motion for Protective Order

92 Opinion

Prior and parallel proceedings posted here, here, and here.

Minnesota COA Forces Fond du Lac Band Back into State Court to Deal with City of Duluth’s Contract Breach Claim

April 16, 2013Matthew L.M. Fletcher2 Comments

Here is the unpublished opinion in City of Duluth v. Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa (Minn. App.).

News Coverage of Casino Developer Suit against Delaware Tribe

February 18, 2013Matthew L.M. Fletcher

Here.

Casino Developer Sues Delaware Tribe for $2.6 Million

February 13, 2013February 13, 2013Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here is the complaint in River Trails LLC v. Delaware Enterprise Authority (N.D. Okla.):

River Trails Complaint

N.Y. Trial Court Holds Lower Brule Corporation Not Immune from Discovery in Loan Dispute

January 21, 2013Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here is the opinion in Seaport Loan Products LLC v. Lower Brule Community (N.Y. Supreme Ct.):

Seaport-LBCDE – Decision re Motion to Compel

News coverage: NY Law Journal Article (Sovereign Immunity)

The complaint is here.

Seminole Tribe Brief in Opposition to Contour Spa Cert Petition

December 3, 2012Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here:

Seminole Cert Opp

The petition is here.

Contour Spa v. Seminole Tribe Cert Petition

September 27, 2012Matthew L.M. Fletcher2 Comments

Here:

Contour Spa Cert Petition

Questions Presented:

1. Does Lapides v. Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, 535 U.S. 613 (2003), provide a basis for finding a waiver of tribal sovereign immunity where an Indian Tribe has expressly waived sovereign immunity, is sued in state court, removes to federal court, and then asserts sovereign immunity based on the Tribe’s concealment of the fact that the Tribe did not comply with the Secretary of the Interior’s lease approval requests?

2. Does Justice Brandeis’ opinion in Turner v. United States, 248 U.S. 354 (1919). support the concept of tribal sovereign immunity or should that accidental doctrine, questioned in Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma v. Manufacturing Technologies, Inc., 523 U.S. 751 (1998), be revisited and discarded.

3. Does the Indian Civil Rights Act, Title 25 U.S.C. § 1302(a)(5) and (a)(8) create an implicit cause of action permitting the Tribe to be sued for the taking of property without due process of law?

Lower court materials here.