Litigation and Administrative Law

The reported cases handled by the firm show the breadth and significance of litigated cases handled by the firm in the courts and in administrative agencies. Examples of the reported cases follow:

• Merrion v. Jicarilla Apache Tribe, 455 U.S. 130 (1982)
• Jicarilla Apache Tribe v. Andrus, 687 F.2d 1324 (10th Cir. 1982)
• Jicarilla Apache Tribe v. Supron Energy Corp., 782 F.2d 853 (10th Cir.) (en banc), cert. denied, 479 U.S. 970 (1986)
• Navajo Tribe of Indians v. United States Dept. of the Interior, 667 F. Supp. 747 (D.N.M. 1987)
• New Mexico Energy & Minerals Dept. v. United States Dept. of the Interior, 820 F.2d 441 (D.C. Cir. 1987), settlement approved after remand and transfer, 19 Ind. L. Rep. 3119 (D.N.M. 1992)
• Star Lake R.R. v. Navajo Area Director, 15 IBIA 220 (1987), aff'd, 737 F. Supp. 103 (D.D.C. 1990), aff'd, 925 F.2d 490 (D.C. Cir. 1991) (per curiam)
• New Mexico Navajo Ranchers Ass'n v. Interstate Commerce Comm'n, 850 F.2d 729 (D.C. Cir. 1988)
• Jicarilla Apache Tribe v. New Mexico, 742 F. Supp. 1487 (D.N.M. 1990)
• Pittsburg & Midway Coal Mining Co. v. Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, 115 IBLA 148 (1990), aff'd, No. CIV 90-730 JC (D.N.M. 1994)
• Pittsburg & Midway Coal Mining Co. v. Yazzie, 909 F.2d 1387 (10th Cir.), cert. denied, 498 U.S. 1012 (1990)
• New Mexico Taxation & Revenue Dept. v. Laguna Indus., Inc., 855 P.2d 127 (N.M. 1993)
• Texaco, Inc. v. Zah, 5 F.3d 1374 (10th Cir. 1993)
• Mescal v. United States, 161 F.R.D. 450 (D.N.M. 1995)
• Pittsburg & Midway Coal Mining Co. v. Watchman, 52 F.3d 1531 (10th Cir. 1995)
• Thermal Energy Co., 135 IBLA 291 (1996)
• Texaco, Inc. v. Hale, 81 F.3d 934 (10th Cir. 1996)
• United States v. Tsosie, 92 F.3d 1037 (10th Cir. 1996)
• Ark Land Co., 139 IBLA 196 (1997)
• The Navajo Nation, 150 IBLA 83 (1999)
• The Navajo Nation, 152 IBLA 227 (2000)
• Rio Arriba County v. Acting Southwest Regional Director, 36 IBIA 14, reconsid. denied, 36 IBIA 102 (2001), appeal after remand, 38 IBIA 18, reconsid. denied, 38 IBIA 108 (2002)
• HRI, Inc. v. E.P.A., 198 F.3d 1224 (10th Cir. 2000)
• Navajo Nation v. United States, 46 Fed. Cl. 217 (2000), rev'd, 263 F.3d 1325 (Fed Cir. 2001), rev'd, 537 U.S. 488 (2003), on remand, 347 F.3d 1327 (Fed. Cir. 2003), on remand, 68 Fed.Cl. 805 (2005), rev'd, 501 F.3d 1327 (Fed. Cir. 2007), rev'd, 129 S.Ct. 1547 (2009)
• Arizona Pub. Serv. Co. v. EPA, 211 F.3d 1280 (D.C. Cir. 2000), cert. denied, 1213 Ct. 1600 (2001)
• National Labor Relations Board v. Pueblo of San Juan, 30 F. Supp. 2d 1348 (D.N.M. 1998), aff'd, 276 F.3d 1186 (10th Cir. 2002) (en banc)
• National Labor Relations Board v. Pueblo of San Juan, 305 F. Supp. 2d 1229 (D.N.M. 2003).
• Jicarilla Apache Nation v. Rio Arriba County Assessor, 92 P.3d 642 (N.M. Ct. App. 2003), rev's sub nom. Jicarilla Apache Nation v. Rodarte, 103 P.3d 554 (N.M. 2004), abrogated in part 2005 N.M. Laws, ch. 231
• Pueblo of Laguna v. United States, 60 Fed. Cl. 133 (2004)
• Jicarilla Apache Nation v. United States, 60 Fed. Cl. 413 (2004)
• Jicarilla Apache Nation v. United States, 60 Fed. Cl. 611 (2004)
• Big Valley Band of Pomo Indians v. Superior Court of Lake County, 133 Cal.App. 4th 1185 (2005) 
• Bales v. Chickasaw Nation Industries, 606 F. Supp. 1308 (D.N.M. 2009)
• Jicarilla Apache Nation v. United States, 88 Fed. Cl. 1 (2009) (argued as amicus curiae)
• Armijo v. Pueblo of Laguna, 2011-NMCA-006,149 N.M. 234, 247 P.3d 1119 (2010)

• Jicarilla Apache Nation v. United States, 100 Fed. Cl. 726 (2011) (argued as amicus curiae)

Unreported cases include those enjoining degradation of water quality; Pueblo of Laguna v. United States Environmental Protection Agency, No. CIV 82-1540 M (D.N.M. 1986), remedying theft of allottee oil and gas resources, O'Neal v. Amoco Prod. Co., No. C83-0432 (D. Wyo. 1985), requiring compliance with the Federal Oil and Gas Royalty Management Act, Shii Shi Keyah Ass'n v. Hodel, No. CIV-84-1622 M (D.N.M. 1982), Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians v. United States, Dockets 189-A,-B, and -C (Judgments 1997 - $27,105,000 and 2001 - $53,500,000), enforcing a water rights contract between the United States and our client, Jicarilla Apache Tribe v. United States, No. CIV 82-1237 HB (D.N.M. 1982), and enforcing the Voting Rights Act protections for Native Americans during the electoral redistricting process.

The firm's administrative law practice includes all of the subject areas and types of transactions which have led to the litigation summarized above. The firm has successfully represented its clients in rulemaking and adjudications before Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Minerals Management Service, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Bureau of Land Management, and the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement.