United Keetoowah Band assists members in Cobell settlement
Friday, March 18, 2011
Filed Under: Cobell
The United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma is helping explain the $3.4 billion settlement in the Indian trust fund lawsuit to its members.
Tribal members who need help understanding the settlement or filling out the forms can get assistance. The deadline to participate is April 20.
"What the tribe has been doing – their involvement in this – is only to assist them in filling out the application forms, helping them send any proper documentation they may need for their land descriptions and all of this," media director Sammy Still told The Tahlequah Daily Press.
People with an Individual Indian Money (IIM) account open between October 25, 1994 and September 30, 2009, with at least one cash transaction are a part of the Historical Accounting Class. They will receive $1,000.
People with an IIM account on the electronic system at the Interior Department from approximately 1985 to September 30, 2009, are a part of the Trust Administration Class. They will receive an extra $800, plus additional funds that depend on the type of activity that occurred in the account.
Some people who didn't have an IIM account during the period in question but who had land in trust will receive $800.
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S.E. Ruckman: Indian beneficiaries look for answers on Cobell
Monday, March 21, 2011
Filed Under: Cobell
"To Eddie Jacobs, the Cobell case is personal. He is not just an Individual Indian Monies (IIM) account holder with a number, he said. His grandpa was one of many Creek landholders with land where oil was discovered in the early 1900s. Jacobs’ story is the tale of a grandfather who had his monies siphoned to help pay for a world war.
“He didn’t know about it then,” Jacobs said. “Will he ever get that money back?”
Jacobs was one of nearly 100 landowners, attorneys and tribal officials who attended a series of meetings across Oklahoma on March 14 at the Wichita Housing Authority Iscani Community as part of the notification provision of the case.
Cobell attorneys, Keith Harper, Rob Harmala and Alex Pearl, fielded questions from Indian landholders dealing with the upcoming settlement. Inquiries included attorney’s fees, landholder eligibility, payment dates and claims guidelines. Tempers flared but were easily put out during the 90-minute meeting.
“The deceased people, who are no longer with us, they gave up so much,” Jacobs said.
Attendees nodded, but they had concerns about safeguarding against future mismanagement with the same government agency. Harper, said blame lay with the Minerals Management System (MMS) and not just the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA).
“It’s an issue we struggled with,” Harper said. “We’ve brought those issues to light repeatedly.”
Comments tended from the practical to the emotional. Kiowa chairman, Ron Twohatchet, said he had fielded calls from tribal members IIM account holders with incarcerated relatives. What happens to their share, he asked. The answer: Any monies that come to those account holders will be deposited in their IIM, officials said."
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Oklahoma beneficiaries question payment to Cobell attorneys
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Filed Under: Cobell
Attorneys for the Indian trust fund lawsuit faced questions about their request for $233 million in fees at a meeting in Oklahoma last week.
Some beneficiaries said the request was too high. The fees will come out of the same pot of money that's going to account holders.
“The majority of money you’re asking for in this lawsuit is what is owed to account holders,” Marcianna R. Jacobs told the attorneys at a meeting in Anadarko, The Native American Times reported. “To me, I’m ashamed at this Cobell case … I hope you can live with yourself."
Keith Harper, a member of the Cherokee Nation, defended the request. “To get lawyers who are going to be dedicated without compensation for that many years; to do this kind of case and have it be successful as it is, it requires they be compensated fairly at the end," he said, the Times reported.
The $223 million represents 14.75 percent of the $1.5 billion going to account holders. Obama administration says the attorneys only deserve $50 million.
A federal judge will make the final decision.
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Elouise Cobell discusses settlement at University of Montana
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Filed Under: Cobell
Elouise Cobell, the lead plaintiff Indian trust fund lawsuit, spoke at the University of Montana on Wednesday.
Cobell, who filed the lawsuit in June 1996, urged students to stand up for their beliefs. "Do something," she said, The Missoulian reported. "You don't have to do anything that they'll throw you in jail or anything. Stand up for your rights."
After hundreds of court hearing and numerous appeals, Cobell and the Obama administration reached a settlement in December 2009. The deal provides $1.5 billion in direct payments to Indian beneficiaries and creates a $1.9 billion fund to buy land from willing account holders.
Cobell said the first round of $1,000 checks should be distributed sometime this fall. Another round of payments -- at least $800, but more for many account holders -- will probably be made in spring 2012.
"I know it sounds like a long time, but people have been patient for a very long time," said Cobell, the Missoulian reported. "It's sad. Every day that an elder passes on, it hurts me because they died without their restitution."
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The House Subcommittee on Indian and Alaska Native Affairs will hold a hearing next week on H.R.887, a bill to limit attorney fees in the Indian trust fund lawsuit to $50 million.
Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), the chairman of the subcommittee, introduced the bill on March 2. Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Washington) and Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Arizona), a new member of Congress, are listed as co-sponsors.
In addition to limiting the attorney fees, the bill requires the Interior Department to submit a report to Congress on its land consolidation plans, and to potentially identify an alternative to the portion of the settlement that deals with land consolidation. Young has expressed concerns about the effort.
The hearing will take place next Tuesday, April 5, at 11am in Room 1334 of the Longworth House Office Building.
Committee Notice:
Legislative Hearing on H.R. 887 (April 5, 2011)
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April 20 deadline approaching for $3.4B trust fund settlement
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Filed Under: Cobell
A key deadline is approaching to participate in the $3.4 billion settlement in the Indian trust fund lawsuit.
Beneficiaries have until April 20 submit comments or objections to the settlement, or to request to speak at the fairness hearing, which is scheduled to take place on June 20 in Washington, D.C.
Beneficiaries who want to preserve their right to sue the federal government for damages must do so by April 20 as well. The opt out only affects the Trust Administration Class of the settlement.
People who believe they they should be a part of the settlement but who haven't received a notice should fill out a claim form as soon as possible on CobellSettlement.Com. They can also call 1-800-961-6109 for more information.
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Rep. Cole questions need for bill to limit Cobell attorney fees
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Filed Under: Cobell
Rep. Tom Cole (R-Oklahoma), the only Native American in Congress, doesn't think lawmakers should be interfering with the $3.4 billion settlement to the Indian trust fund lawsuit.
Cole, a member of the Chickasaw Nation, helped pass the settlement during the 111th Congress. But some of his fellow Republicans are upset about deal and have introduced a bill to limit attorney fees to $50 million.
"My sense is that its not particularly helpful" for Congress to interfere, Cole said at a hearing before the House Appropriations Committee yesterday. "We oughta let the ... judge in this case do what he wants to do."
"I'd hate to reintroduce the issue here," added Cole.
The House Subcommittee on Indian and Alaska Native Affairs will hold a hearing on H.R.887 next Tuesday. The bill has three sponsors, all Republicans.
In addition to limiting attorney fees, the bill requires the Interior Department to submit a report to Congress on its land consolidation plans, and to potentially identify an alternative to the portion of the settlement that deals with land consolidation.
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Witness list for House hearing on bill to cap Cobell attorney fees
Monday, April 4, 2011
Filed Under: Cobell
The House Subcommittee on Indian and Alaska Native Affairs holds a hearing tomorrow on H.R.887, a bill to limit attorney fees in the Indian trust fund lawsuit to $50 million.
Only two witnesses are scheduled to testify. Notably, no one from the Cobell side or the Obama administration are on the list:
Mr. Rodney Bordeaux
President, Rosebud Sioux Tribe
Professor Richard Monette
U. of Wisconsin-Madison Law School
The hearing takes place at 11am in Room 1334 of the Longworth House Office Building. A video feed will be available at naturalresources.house.gov/Live.
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Rep. Young threatens subpoenas over bill on Cobell attorney fees
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Filed Under: Cobell
Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), the chairman of the House Subcommittee on Indian and Alaska Native Affairs, threatened to issue subpoenas today after the Obama administration and the plaintiffs in the Indian trust fund lawsuit refused to testify at a hearing he called.
Young is holding a hearing on H.R.887, a bill to limit the plaintiffs' attorney fees to $50 million. But no one from the Cobell litigation team or the administration agreed to testify.
"If they continue to stonewall me, I will subpoena," Young said during his opening remarks at the hearing.
Rep. Doc Hastings (R-Washington), the chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, also gave opening remarks. He said the plaintiffs have refused to cooperate.
"Every dollar paid to attorneys comes directly out of the pockets of individual Indians," said Hastings, one of three Republican co-sponsors of the bill.
Rep. Dan Boren (D-Oklahoma), the top Democrat on the subcommittee, said he was concerned about the attorney fees. But he said the bill interferes with the judicial process and raises constitutional issues.
Only two people are testifying at the hearing: Patricia Douville, a council member for the Rosebud Sioux Tribe of South Dakota; and Richard Monette, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School.
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Audio from House hearing on bill to restrict Cobell attorney fees
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Filed Under: Cobell
The House Subcommittee on Indian and Alaska Native Affairs held a hearing this morning on H.R.887, a bill to limit attorney fees in the Indian trust fund lawsuit to $50 million.
The hearing lasted about 1.3 hours. Audio files, along with links to written testmony, can be downloaded below, though a small segment is missing from the opening statement by Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), the chairman of the subcommittee:
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Cobell plaintiffs oppose Republican bill to restrict attorney fees
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Filed Under: Cobell
The plaintiffs in the Indian trust fund lawsuit said a bill to limit their attorney fee threatens the $3.4 billion settlement to the case.
The settlement leaves the final decision on fees to a federal judge. But House Republicans, angry over a court filing that requests $223 million, introduced H.R.887 to limit fees to $50 million.
"Political interference in the judicial process would harm 500,000 individual Indians, undermine our system of government and jeopardize the settlement in its entirety," the plaintiffs said in a statement.
In the settlement, the plaintiffs and the Obama administration agreed not to appeal a fee award between $50 million and $99.9 million. Republican lawmakers say the plaintiffs, in Congressional testimony, promised to limit fees to $99.9 million.
The House Subcommittee on Indian and Alaska Native Affairs held a hearing on the bill yesterday. No one from the Cobell team or the Obama administration testified.
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Editorial: Don't let attorney fee dispute derail Cobell settlement
Friday, April 8, 2011
Filed Under: Cobell | Opinion
"Well, evidently the lawyers in the case have decided they need a little more fairness and opportunity, because they now have petitioned the federal court to more than double the agreed-to fees — to $223 million.
And that has prompted some in Congress to introduce legislation to revisit the settlement because of excessive legal fees.
Considering the public dispute over fees reaching as much as $99.9 million, and the subsequent agreement, it's hard not to agree that this latest demand is excessive.
We're by no means experts on fee structures, but simple math suggests that the demand is at least extreme.
If you assume fees of $500 an hour (probably an excessive assumption), the new demand divides out to 446,000 billable hours. Working it on out, that's more than 14 lawyers billing $500 an hour for 40 hours a week for the full 15 years of the case.
Nice work if you can get it."
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Editorial: 'Excessive' request for attorney fees in Cobell case
Monday, April 11, 2011
Filed Under: Cobell | Opinion
"Late last year, President Obama signed into law a $3.4 billion settlement with Native Americans who had sued the U.S. government for swindling them out of billions in oil and gas royalties. The settlement, Mr. Obama said, “closes a long and unfortunate chapter in our history.”
Not quite.
There are still several issues that a D.C. federal trial judge must sign off on, including how much to pay the lawyers for the Native Americans. This is where a new and unfortunate chapter of this long tale begins.
The original settlement as outlined by Congress contemplated legal fees in the range of $50 million to $99.9 million to the legal team — a jaw-dropping number made all the more shocking because the average Native American is expected to receive roughly $1,800."
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Additional meetings scheduled in Indian trust fund settlement
Monday, April 11, 2011
Filed Under: Cobell
More meetings are being held this week to discuss the $3.4 billion settlement to the Indian trust fund lawsuit.
The settlement provides $1.412 billion in payments to individual Indians. It also creates a $1.9 billion land consolidation fund.
Attorneys for the lawsuit will be explaining the settlement today on the Yakama Nation in Washington. There's also another meeting today or the Keneenaw Bay Indian Community in Michigan.
On Tuesday, there'll be a meeting hosted by the Warm Springs Tribes in Oregon. The Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians is also hosting a meeting in Wisconsin on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe Indians and the Red Lake Nation are each hosting meetings in Minnesota. Attorneys also will be meeting with members of the Hoopa Valley Tribe and the Yurok Tribe, both in California.
On Thursday, the White Earth Band of Ojibwe Indians is hosting a meeting.
April 20 is the deadline for beneficiaries to opt out of the portion of the settlement that deals with trust administration.
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Large crowd for Yakama Nation meeting on Cobell settlement
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Filed Under: Cobell
Attorneys for the Indian trust fund lawsuit were on the Yakama Nation in Washington on Monday to explain the $3.4 billion settlement to the case.
More than 300 people turned out for the meeting, The Yakima Herald-Republic reported. Many are eligible for a share of the settlement, which Chairman Harry Smiskin said was not large enough.
"I think the settlement is long overdue," Smiskin told the paper. "Is it adequate? No. But it is what it is. $3.4 billion spread across all the tribes in the country, it's not going to go far."
The meeting came as the April 20 deadline to opt out of the portion of the settlement that deals with trust administration approaches. Attorneys said people should weigh their decision carefully.
"What we've discovered is that many of these claims are stale in terms of the federal government," attorney David Smith said at the meeting, the paper reported. "Statute of limitations has run out on many of them. So there is a lot to consider if you decide to still pursue a lawsuit against the federal government," he said.
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Editorial: Withdraw bid for 'exorbitant' Cobell attorney fees
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Filed Under: Cobell | Opinion
"When Congress at long last approved a $3.4 billion settlement last year to Natives for the shameful way it handled their trust accounts for more than a century, it seemed that all that remained was for the government to start writing checks.
Experts estimated that the average size of the checks would be about $1,800. Many, including plaintiff Elouise Cobell of Montana's Blackfeet Nation, felt that the amount was far less than was owed, but the possibility of a larger settlement seemed slim to nonexistent. The settlement won support from the National Congress of American Indians.
Now the settlement has been stalled for a reason that is old as time.
Greed.
The attorneys in the case assured Congress that their fees in the case that dragged on for 15 years, would be in the range of $50 million to $99.9 million.
Now, the attorneys want to more than double that amount to $223 million. If they are successful in the attempt, the amount that goes to tribes would be reduced."
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Letter: Cobell settlement isn't 'stalled' over attorney fees
Monday, April 18, 2011
Filed Under: Cobell | Opinion
"Please be advised that the Indian Trust settlement is not stalled, as your editorial stated ("Attorney fee request out of line," April 13). The claim process is proceeding as planned. Claims are being accepted and briefings for Natives are being held this week in a number of Native communities in the Midwest.
There will be a court hearing June 20 on various issues including legal fees and other issues, as you noted. But the claim process has not been stopped."
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Lawyer looking for beneficiaries who object to Cobell deal
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Filed Under: Cobell
An attorney in California wants to represent Indian beneficiaries who object to the $3.4 billion settlement in the Indian trust fund lawsuit.
Darrell Palmer says the Cobell legal team is requesting $223 million in fees -- "one of the largest fee requests in US history." He also says lead plaintiff Elouise Cobell and the other named plaintiffs "are requesting huge and unprecedented awards."
Palmer, who has experience in class action settlements, wants to file objections on behalf of beneficiaries "at no charge," according to his website, classactionfairness.com. He plans to appear at the June 20 fairness hearing in Washington, D.C.
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Cobell critic files objection to $3.4B trust fund settlement
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Filed Under: Cobell
Kimberly Craven, a member of the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate in South Dakota, has filed an objection to the $3.4 billion Indian trust fund settlement.
Craven says the attorneys who handled the case for 14 years are seeking too much money. Her objection questions the billing records submitted by attorneys like Dennis Gingold.
"The request for $237 million for the attorneys and class representatives might be excusable if class counsel and [lead plaintiff Elouise] Cobell had any basis to assert that their litigation was successful," the objection states. "They do not. The last four years of litigation, a product of the greed of class counsel, have been disastrous for the class."
As for the deal itself, Craven says it isn't fair to Indian beneficiaries. Most of her objections center on the Trust Administration Class, which resolves mismanagement claims against the federal government.
Beneficiaries can opt out of the Trust Administration portion of the settlement. But Craven says the deal can't resolve claims that weren't included in the lawsuit.
The deadline to opt out was April 20. The fairness hearing for the settlement will take place June 20 in Washington, D.C.
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