Akin Gump Notches 9th Circuit Win for Gila River Tribe in Indian Child Welfare Act Case

(Washington, D.C.) – Akin Gump achieved a victory in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit for the Gila River Indian Community, defending the constitutionality of major federal legislation on behalf of Indian tribes. It was the firm’s fourth straight 9th Circuit win for the Community in the past two years.

This latest case began with a constitutional challenge by plaintiff the Goldwater Institute, an Arizona public policy organization, to the Indian Child Welfare Act, a statute that provides important protections for American Indian Tribes in child welfare proceedings involving Indian children. The case was dismissed at the district court level due to lack of Article III standing after the plaintiff failed to allege any facts demonstrating that their injuries were traceable to the Act or that the Act actually applied to the foster/adoptive parents and Indian children serving as plaintiffs.

The 9th Circuit agreed that Article III prevented adjudication of the merits, accepting the Akin Gump team’s argument that the case had since become moot because the plaintiffs’ adoptions had been finalized and that the Act could no longer apply to them.

Pratik A. Shah, co-head of Akin Gump’s Supreme Court and appellate practice, argued the appeal, for both the Community as well as the Navajo Nation (which agreed to have Akin Gump take the lead for the tribes), alongside the United States and Arizona. Counsel Julius Chen drafted the brief, with assistance from senior counsel Merrill Godfrey.

Founded in 1945, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP is a leading international law firm with more than 900 lawyers in offices throughout the United States, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

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