The unsettled state of the Cayuga Nation's leadership may calm down, as a compromise has been struck in the legal battle over who represents the tribe.
The long-standing legal representatives of the Cayuga Nation in the tribe's land claim will continue to represent the tribe in that litigation, but it will no longer represent the tribe in the litigation over the Union Springs bingo hall and over the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma's Aurelius land parcels.
Oral arguments were scheduled today in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York on disqualifying the Sonnenschein, Nath and Rosenthal firm from representing the Cayugas.
However, negotiations between the attorneys for the three different factions of the Cayuga Nation established a compromise arrangement.
The law firms of Jenner and Block, of Washington, D.C., Green and Seifter, of Syracuse, and Dreyer Boyajian, of Albany, as well as attorney Joseph Heath, of Syracuse, will work together in the Aurelius and Union Springs litigation and any new litigation involving the tribe.
Sonnenschein will represent the nation in the land claim case because they are "the attorneys of historic record in that case," said Dan French, one of the attorneys who represents the Cayuga Nation's federal representative, Clint Halftown.
The Cayuga Nation's leadership has been unsettled for several months.
Disputes have arisen over whether the tribe was withdrawing from its now-dead proposed land claim settlement and its casino development deal with Empire Resorts and whether an effort to establish a new elected government was valid or not.
"It's also a beginning for the council members working among themselves. I hope things eventually improve, and they'll better be able to work together," said Joseph Heath, who represents five of the traditional Cayugas, including the condoled chiefs, Bear Clan member Sam George and Heron Clan member William "Chuck" Jacobs.
Staff writer Amaris Elliott-Engel can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or amaris.elliot-engel@lee.net
Oral arguments were scheduled today in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York on disqualifying the Sonnenschein, Nath and Rosenthal firm from representing the Cayugas.
However, negotiations between the attorneys for the three different factions of the Cayuga Nation established a compromise arrangement.
The law firms of Jenner and Block, of Washington, D.C., Green and Seifter, of Syracuse, and Dreyer Boyajian, of Albany, as well as attorney Joseph Heath, of Syracuse, will work together in the Aurelius and Union Springs litigation and any new litigation involving the tribe.
Sonnenschein will represent the nation in the land claim case because they are "the attorneys of historic record in that case," said Dan French, one of the attorneys who represents the Cayuga Nation's federal representative, Clint Halftown.
The Cayuga Nation's leadership has been unsettled for several months.
Disputes have arisen over whether the tribe was withdrawing from its now-dead proposed land claim settlement and its casino development deal with Empire Resorts and whether an effort to establish a new elected government was valid or not.
"It's also a beginning for the council members working among themselves. I hope things eventually improve, and they'll better be able to work together," said Joseph Heath, who represents five of the traditional Cayugas, including the condoled chiefs, Bear Clan member Sam George and Heron Clan member William "Chuck" Jacobs.
Staff writer Amaris Elliott-Engel can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 282 or amaris.elliot-engel@lee.net
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