Complex Sale Preserves Economic Opportunities in Four Corners
Led by Meg Meister and Walter Stern and working collaboratively with BHP Billiton New Mexico Coal, Inc.’s in-house counsel and executive team, Modrall Sperling successfully completed the stock sale of BHP Billiton’s San Juan Coal Company (SJCC) and San Juan Transportation Company to Westmoreland Coal Company…
Federal District Court Sets Aside Fish and Wildlife Service’s 30-Year Take Permit Rule Under Bald and Golden Eagle Act
On August 11, 2015, a federal district court judge in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California[1. Shearwater v. Ashe, Case No. 14-CV-02830-LHK, 2015 U.S. LEXIS 106277 (N.D. Cal. August 11, 2015)] vacated the United States Fish and Wildlife…
Native American Law Watch – Fall 2015/Winter 2016
View as PDF Articles: Bondholders and Trustee Avoid Tribal Court Jurisdiction on Defaulted Bonds The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that bondholders and their counsel were not required to exhaust tribal court remedies in a case involving a bond transaction…
Modrall Sperling’s Recent Successes for New Mexico Employers
This month, Modrall Sperling shareholder George McFall and associate Jennifer Bradfute, along with Geoff Rieder and Meghan Stanford, of Foster, Rieder & Jackson, successfully tried an employment case to a 12-person jury before Judge Carl Butkus in the Second Judicial District Court. The plaintiff had…
Seismic Operations Held Subject to Notice and Negotiation Requirements of Surface Owners Protection Act
In a July 28, 2015 opinion, the New Mexico Court of Appeals (Court of Appeals) determined that geophysical seismic operations constitute “oil and gas operations” under NMSA 1978, § 70-12-5(A) of the Surface Owners Protection Act (SOPA), thereby subjecting an operator to strict…
Water Rights as Collateral – Challenges and Considerations in Protecting and Assigning Value
In New Mexico, agricultural land is often used as collateral for financing. Due to water scarcity, growing populations and competing needs for water, the value of water rights independent of the land itself is increasing and very likely will continue to increase,…
Overview of the Twelve Objectives in New Mexico’s New Energy Plan
New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez unveiled the state’s New Energy Plan (“Plan”) on September 14, 2015. The Plan, entitled “Seizing our Energy Potential: Creating a More Diverse Economy in New Mexico,” focuses on an “all of the above” approach to promote job…
Law Firms Care for Homeless During the Holidays
After spending the fall and winter months collecting much-needed items to be distributed to the area’s homeless during the holiday season, lawyers from the firms of Modrall Sperling…
New Mexico Has Some Unique Employment Laws
Minimum wage rates vary in New Mexico depending on where your business is located. Employers must grant leave to victims of domestic violence. Employers must pay all unpaid wages to some discharged workers within FIVE days of discharge. Employers who fail to…
Can You Challenge the Corps’ Clean Water Act Jurisdictional Determinations Without First Going Through the Permit Process?
The United States Supreme Court has agreed to review an appeal from a decision by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals that found that the Corps of Engineers’ Approved Jurisdictional Determinations (“JD”) are final agency actions and are immediately appealable under the…