Here:
Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians
Wisconsin Chippewa Tribes Wait to Hear Night Deer Hunting Ruling
Wisconsin Night Deer Hunt Hearing to Continue Thursday
Here.
Briefs:
Wisconsin’s Brief and Motion to Strike
Tribes’ Response to Motion to Strike
Previous material is here.
Wisconsin Night Deer Hunting Hearing Set for December 12
Wisconsin Tribes Seek to Enforce Treaty Rights in Night Deer Hunt
Godfrey & Kahn Sued by Investors over Lac du Flambeau Bond Deal Done In by Immunity
We’ll post the complaint, filed in state court, once we get it (if we get it).
Meanwhile, here’s the news coverage.
Seventh Circuit Affirms Wells Fargo v. Lake of the Woods; Remands to Allow Wells Fargo to Amend Complaint for Other Relief
Here is today’s opinion. An excerpt:
We conclude that the Indenture constitutes a management contract under IGRA and that, as a condition of its validity, it should have been submitted to the Chairman of the NIGC for approval prior to its implementation. The parties’ failure to secure such approval renders the Indenture void in its entirety and thus invalidate s the Corporation’s waiver of sovereign immunity. The district court therefore correctly determined that it was without jurisdiction with respect to Wells Fargo’s motion for the appointment of a receiver.
We further conclude that the district court should have permitted Wells Fargo leave to file an amended complaint to the extent that it presented claims for legal and equitable relief in connection with the bond transaction on its own behalf and on behalf of the bondholder. Upon the filing of such a complaint, the district court should address the issue of whether, now that the Indenture has been determined to be void, Wells Fargo has standing to litigate claims on behalf of the bondholder. The court also must determine whether the collateral documents, when read separately or together, waive the sovereign immunity of the Corporation with respect to any such claims. If such a waiver is found, the court may proceed to determine the merits of those claims.
Wells Fargo v. Lake of the Torches Briefing Complete
Here are the briefs:
Merits
Amici
Natl Federation of Municipal Analysts Amicus Brief
Lower court materials here and here and here.
Argument set for Wednesday, October 20, 2010.
Corrected LDF Brief in Wells Fargo Case: Response to Court Order to Brief Jurisdictional Issue
Here: LDF Corrected Brief, and LDF Corrected Addendum.
Apparently, the jurisdictional issue is whether the court has jurisdiction under the diversity statute over the Lake of the Torches EDC. LDF writes:
This Court should follow the Ninth Circuit and hold that “a corporation organized under tribal law should be analyzed for diversity jurisdiction purposes as if it were a state or federal corporation,” while still enjoying the same sovereign immunity as the tribe. Cook, 548 F.3d at 723, 726. This approach follows the plain language of the diversity statute, which provides that a corporation is a citizen of “the State where it has its principal place of business.” 28 U.S.C. § 1332(c)(2). For the Corporation, that is Wisconsin. The Eighth Circuit’s test, which looks to whether a tribal entity operates as “an arm of the tribe and not as a mere business,” ignores the language of the statute and focuses on the function of a tribal entity, finding that where it is governmental, as is the Corporation’s, Doc. 31 at 2-3, the entity is treated like a tribe and is not considered a citizen of any state. Auto-Owners Ins. Co. v. Tribal Court of the Spirit Lake Indian Reservation, 495 F.3d 1017, 1021 (8th Cir. 2007). Under the more practical Ninth Circuit test, which this Court appears to have used, see supra at n.6, the parties are diverse and subject-matter jurisdiction exists.
The court also set October 20 as the oral argument date.
Turtle Talk 