The Alaska Supreme Court recently affirmed and expanded Tribal sovereignty in Ito v. Copper River Native Association, issued on April 26, 2024, in which the court adopted a new multi-factor inquiry to determine whether an...more
Does Arkansas recognize the doctrine of inevitable disclosure in the context of trade secret issues? In some circumstances, yes...more
The Supreme Court of Arkansas (“SCT”) addressed in a March 16th Opinion issues associated with the City of Fort Smith, Arkansas’s (“Fort Smith”) residential recycling program. See City of Fort Smith, Arkansas, v. Jennifer...more
Can a plaintiff pursue punitive damages from multiple defendants? Yes, but this comes with significant limitations for the plaintiff. Pursuing relief from multiple defendants generally results in the conclusion that joint...more
The Alaska Supreme Court (“Court”) addressed in a December 30th opinion issues arising out of the purchase of a property that had groundwater contamination. See Gavora, Inc. v. City of Fairbanks, 502 P.3d 410. ...more
A recent Alaska Supreme Court decisions addresses, but does not decide, the question of whether a corporation may punish a director by withholding corporate information. In Borer v. Eyak Corp., 2022 Alas. LEXIS 37, winning...more
On April 1, 2022, the Alaska Supreme Court issued Borer v. The Eyak Corporation, which may impact Alaska Native Corporation boards of directors and their corporate governance structures and policies. Courts only resolve...more
United States District Court Judge James M. Moody (“Court”) addressed in a March 31st Order an allegation by Plaintiffs (seven neighborhood associations) that the expansion of I-30 interstate violated the National...more
In both Australia and the United States, indigenous peoples and the younger generation have been raising the torch in instituting legal battles to challenge the government and the private sector regarding climate change...more
Answering the first of two certified questions from an Alaska federal court and overturning nearly 30-year-old precedent, the Alaska Supreme Court has held that an employer need only establish an exemption under the Alaska...more
The Arkansas Supreme Court recently handed down an opinion that should reassure employers dealing with an incident involving a workplace injury. The Court affirmed that disputes over such injuries belong in the Workers’...more
On May 1, 2020, the Supreme Court of Alaska issued a decision upholding the Alaska Department of Transportation's (ADOT) decision to deny a contractor's claim for additional compensation due to the contractor's failure to...more
SMJ Gen. Constr., Inc. v. Jet Commer. Constr., LLC, No. S-16785/16985, 2019 BL 131640 (Alaska Apr. 12, 2019) - In 2016, Jet Commercial Construction, LLC (“Jet”) entered into a subcontract with SMJ General Construction,...more
The Arkansas Court of Appeals recently affirmed the critically important quality-assurance privilege in Arkansas, codified at Arkansas Code Annotated section 16-46-105. At issue was whether a hospital must convene a formal...more
May Interest Rates for GRATs, Sales to Defective Grantor Trusts, Intra-Family Loans and Split Interest Charitable Trusts - The May § 7520 rate for use with estate planning techniques such as CRTs, CLTs, QPRTs and GRATs is...more
The Supreme Court of Alaska issued a ruling on March 2, 2018, denying Alaska courts the exclusive jurisdiction purportedly granted by the Alaska asset protection statute. This holding is consistent with a ruling by the...more
If you become engaged in litigation in Arkansas, the answer to this question can be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars in potential recovery or exposure. As such, pre-judgment interest is an important consideration. This...more
On Wednesday, October 25, 2017, the Arkansas Court of Appeals handed down an opinion affirming a severe sanction against a hospital in a medical malpractice case. The trial court had stricken the hospital’s answer, where...more
The Supreme Court of Alaska in Burnett v. Government Employees Insurance Company, 2017 WL 382648 (Alaska 2017) recently decided in a 3-2 decision that an insurer who voluntarily assumed the responsibility for cleaning up an...more
February Interest Rates for GRATs, Sales to Defective Grantor Trusts, Intra-Family Loans and Split Interest Charitable Trusts - The February § 7520 rate for use with estate planning techniques such as CRTs, CLTs, QPRTs...more