Tenth Circuit Briefs in Becker v. Ute Indian Tribe [sanctions order against tribe]

Here:

Jurrius Brief

Lower court materials here.

Utah Federal Court Holds Ute Tribe Still Owes $209K in Attorney Fees in Dispute with Former Contractor

Here are the updated materials in Becker v. Ute Indian Tribe (D. Utah):

297 DCT Order Denying Motion for Reconsideration of Sanctions Order

302 Ute Motion to Recover Costs

303 Ute Motion for Relief from Judgment

304 Ute Motion for Stay

308 Becker Opposition to 303

309 Becker Opposition to 304

310 Jurrius Opposition to 304

314 Ute Reply in Support of 304

315 DCT Order Granting Ute Motion to Recover Costs

Prior post on the attorney fee sanction against Ute here.

Prior post on the Tenth Circuit decision in this case favoring Ute here.

Becker v. Ute Indian Tribe Cert Petition

Here:

Questions presented:

Whether a federal court may force a non-consenting, non-Indian plaintiff to exhaust his claims in tribal court when the defendant tribe has expressly consented by contract to federal or state court jurisdiction and waived both sov- ereign immunity and tribal exhaustion.

Whether a state court may adjudicate a contractual dispute between a tribe and a non-Indian where the tribe has provided specific contrac- tual consent to state court jurisdiction; or in- stead, whether the Constitution or laws of the United States prohibit such exercises of state court jurisdiction unless the State has assumed general civil jurisdiction over tribal territory under Sections 1322 and 1326 of Title 25.

Circuit split?

Lower court materials here.

Update:

Split Tenth Circuit Rules in Ute Indian Tribe v. Lawrence

Here. An excerpt describing the holding:

This appeal marks the latest chapter in a long-running contract dispute between the Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation (the Tribe) and Lynn Becker, a non-Indian. The contract concerned Becker’s work marketing and developing the Tribe’s mineral resources on the Ute reservation. Almost seven years ago, Becker sued the Tribe in Utah state court for allegedly breaching the contract by failing to pay him a percentage of certain revenue the Tribe received from its mineral holdings. Later, the Tribe filed this lawsuit, challenging the state court’s subject matter jurisdiction under federal law. The district court denied the Tribe’s motion for a preliminary injunction against the state-court proceedings, and the Tribe appeals.
We reverse and hold that the Tribe is entitled to injunctive relief. The district court’s factual findings establish that Becker’s state-court claims arose on the reservation because no substantial part of the conduct supporting them occurred elsewhere. And because the claims arose on the reservation, the state court lacks subject-matter jurisdiction absent congressional authorization.

Briefs here.

Ute Tribe Sanctioned for Abuse of Judicial Process/Acting in Bad Faith

Here are the new materials in the long-running Becker v. Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation (D. Utah):

205 Becker Notice of Intent to Subpoena

206 Tribe Motion to Quash

210 Opposition

211 Reply

221 DCT Order to Show Cause

228 Response to Order to Show Cause

234 Becker Memorandum re Tribe’s Documents

235 Becker Response to Order re Sanctions against Tribe

238 Jurrius Reply

243 Tribe Reply

244-1 Becker Surreply

260 DCt Order

261 DCT Order re Unsealing

261-1 Arbitration Statement of Claims

261-2 Jurrius Counterclaims

261-3 Tribe’s Response

261-4 Settlement Agreement

262 Becker Statement of Fees

263 Jurrius Statement of Fees

269 DCT Order Denying Motion for Reconsideration

270 Tribe Motion to Reconsider 260

273 Tribe Objection to 263

274 Tribe Objection to 262

276 Opposition to 270

280 Response to 273

281 Reply in Support of 270

Prior post here.

Federal Judge Refuses to Sanction Attorney for Repeatedly Disparaging Tribal Court

Here are the relevant materials in Becker v. Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation (D. Utah):

134 becker motion for sanctions

146 tribal parties motion for sanctions

154 dct order denying becker motion for sanctions

155 dct order denying tribal parties motion for sanctions

Other Becker related posts here. Posts in Ute Indian Tribe v. Lawrence here.

Federal Court Holds Utah State Court Has Jurisdiction over Contract Dispute with Former Ute Tribe Contractor

Here are the materials in Ute Indian Tribe v. Lawrence (D. Utah):

52 motion for partial sj

53 motion for partial sj

54 emergency motion

95 becker opposition to emergency motion

101 reply

136 dct order

Tenth Circuit materials here.

Federal Court Enjoins State Court Trial in Ute Jurisdictional Dispute

Here are the relevant materials in Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation  v. Lawrence (D. Utah):

54 Ute Motion for PI

82 Motion for TRO

85 DCT Order Granting TRO

86 Ute Motion for Hearing

This matter is on remand from the Tenth Circuit.

Tenth Circuit Hands Ute Tribe a Pair of Jurisdictional Victories in Dispute with Former Contractor

Here are the materials in Ute Indian Tribe v. Lawrence:

Opinion

Opening Brief

Lawrence Answer Brief

Becker Answer Brief

Reply

Here are the materials in Becker v. Ute Indian Tribe:

Opinion

Opening Brief

Lawrence Answer Brief

Becker Answer Brief

Reply

Prior posts here.