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Message from the Chair
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By Gabriel S. Galanda
Chair, Committee on Gaming Law
Happy holidays, from the Gaming Law Committee. We hope this communication
finds you and your loved ones in great health and spirits this holiday
season.
We are thrilled by the news and information contained in this third edition
of Gaming Law Gazette.
First, we, along with Bob Stocker of Dickinson Wright in Michigan,
have finalized the program for the 13th Annual Institute on the Gaming Law
Minefield, which will take place at the Green Valley Ranch near Las Vegas
on February 5th and 6th, 2009. Consider the following highlights for the
Gaming Law Committee:
- Co-sponsorship of the conference;
- Eight of the Committee's leaders slated to speak or moderate;
- A Committee Business Meeting on Thursday the 5th at 5:30 PM;
- A first-ever Committee Dinner at 8:00 PM on the 5th at the fabulous
Hank's restaurant; and
- With all of the above, the Minefield as a de facto stand alone Committee
meeting.
Bob and I are ecstatic about this year's Minefield line-up, from beginning to end. Please join us
for another spectacular CLE by the nation's best commercial and Indian
gaming lawyers. And when registering for the Minefield, please be sure to
sign up for the Committee Dinner. We promise great steaks and even better
company.
Second, please also mark your calendars for the
Business Law Section's 2009
Spring Meeting in magnificent Vancouver, British Columbia, from April 16th
through 18th. On Friday, April 17th, our Committee will meet at 10:00 AM,
followed by a program we are co-sponsoring with the Cyberspace Committee -
"Emerging Legal Issues in Online Gaming." We are pleased that
John Gregory, General Counsel for the Canadian Ministry of the Attorney
General's Policy Division will be chairing this program.
Third, we have three excellent articles featured in this edition - and I am
not just saying that because I co-authored one of them. Committee member
Shaun Darby brings us, "The 2008 Election: Rounding Up State
Ballot Initiatives Effecting the Gaming Industry," which explains
recent gaming-related ballot measures in Arkansas, Colorado, Maine,
Massachusetts, Missouri, Maryland and Ohio. Regardless of whether you
practice in any of these states, this piece offers you a glimpse of
national gaming law and policy trends.
Heidi McNeil Staudenmaier of Snell & Wilmer's Phoenix office,
who serves as Co-Chair of the Committee's Indian Gaming Subcommittee,
provides us a fascinating look at some of the intricacies of Indian gaming
litigation in tribal (and federal) court, with
"The Three Billion Dollar Question: Enforcement of Tribal Court Judgments."
In addition, Anthony Broadman and I, both of Williams Kastner in
Seattle, have written "Smart Bets in Indian Country: A Gaming Lawyer's
Primer." We provide the most recent discussion of tribal
transactional and litigation issues that every gaming lawyer must know -
especially in this receding economy, when Indian gaming contracts are
surely to be more closely scrutinized in the boardroom and courtroom.
We close by reflecting on a spectacular "year that was" for the
Gaming Law Committee. We participated in three programs in April at the
Business Law Section's Spring Meeting in Dallas, and a few of our leaders
met in August at the ABA's Annual Meeting in New York City to discuss
activities we now have set for 2009. We published thee editions of
Gaming Law Gazette, each with spectacular gaming law articles. As a
result, we grew our membership by 10%.
I am proud that in 2008 we achieved our mission or providing a strong voice
for commercial and Indian gaming practitioners within the Business Law
Section and ABA at large. I look forward to our continued growth and
success in 2009.
Thank you for the opportunity to serve as the Chair of your Gaming
Law Committee.
Gabriel S. Galanda, a descendant of the Nomlaki and Concow Tribes and
enrolled member of the Round Valley Indian Tribes, is a partner in Seattle
with Williams Kastner's Tribal Practice Group. Gabe's practice focuses on
complex, multi-party Indian law and gaming litigation, representing Indian
tribes. He also assists tribal governments with economic development and
diversification initiatives, and works with gaming vendors and other
corporate entities doing business in Indian Country. Gabe is the current
Chair of the Gaming Law Committee, and a member of the International
Masters of Gaming Law.
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ABA Gaming Law Minefield
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Featured Articles
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The 2008 Election: Rounding Up State Ballot Initiatives Effecting the Gaming Industry
Shaun DarbyThe November, 2008 election has been hailed as one of the most momentous in
U.S. history, with Barack Obama being elected the first African-American to
take the office of President. But away from the national Presidential race
and battle for control of the House and Senate, a number of important local
issues were being decided throughout the country by voters in their
respective states. The following is a round-up of state ballot initiatives
affecting the gaming industry.
More...
The Three Billion Dollar Question: Enforcement of Tribal Court Judgments
Heidi McNeil StaudenmaierNotwithstanding the enormous success of tribal gaming and its wide-ranging
benefits for Indian Country, the jurisdiction of Tribal Courts has not
experienced a similar expansion. To the contrary, in the wake of the recent
United States Supreme Court decision of Plains Commerce Bank v. Long
Family Land and Cattle Co, 128 S. Ct. 2709 (2008), the reach of Tribal
Courts over non-tribal members appears to be further limited. Against this
backdrop, whether the Northern District of New York decides to uphold a
nearly $3 Billion Tribal Court judgment against Harrah's is being monitored
with great interest. This article will summarize the history behind the
judgment (likely the largest ever issued by any Tribal Court) and the
unsettled areas of Federal Indian Law that will need to be resolved in
coming to a decision.
More...
Smart Bets in Indian Country: A Gaming Lawyer's Primer
Gabriel S. Galanda and Anthony S. BroadmanEven if you've spent the last several months in a cave - or a casino with
no windows - you know that the tanking economy has hit Indian gaming. With
financial turmoil comes pressure on what may have once been mutually
beneficial contracts. And that pressure causes litigation.
As the gaming bar enters what may be an active period for
distressed-contract negotiation and litigation, practitioners should
refresh their understanding of the federal and tribal laws affecting gaming
in Indian Country. Even in a healthy economy, the doctrines discussed
below are required knowledge for those lawyers representing tribal
governments and non-tribal vendors.
More...
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