The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that because Indian tribes are indisputably governments, the Bankruptcy Code unmistakably abrogates their sovereign immunity to bankruptcy court proceedings.Continue Reading Supreme Court Finds Bankruptcy Code Abrogates Tribal Sovereign Immunity
By Christine Swanick, Carren Shulman, Wilda Wahpepah, and Shawn Watts
On March 4, 2013, ‘SA’ NYU WA, Inc., a tribally-chartered corporation wholly owned by the Hualapai Indian Tribe, filed a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition in the United States Bankruptcy Court, District of Arizona. This is a very important case for tribes and any party conducting business with tribes because the petition will raise a question of first impression for the Bankruptcy Court. The Bankruptcy Court will have to decide whether a tribal corporation is eligible to be a debtor under the Bankruptcy Code.Continue Reading Tribal Corporate Bankruptcy Petition Raises Issues of First Impression for Bankruptcy Court