Between The Lines - Elliott Levitas: Class Action Lawsuit Over Trust Accounts of Half a Million Native Americans (Week Ending July 22, 2011)

Award-winning Investigative Journalist Robert Parry (1949-2018)

Award-winning investigative journalist and founder/editor of ConsortiumNews.com, Robert Parry has passed away. His ground-breaking work uncovering Reagan-era dirty wars in Central America and many other illegal and immoral policies conducted by successive administrations and U.S. intelligence agencies, stands as an inspiration to all in journalists working in the public interest.

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"The Scandals of Donald Trump: Presidential Edition," The Atlantic, May 15, 2017
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"Donald Trump's Financial Ties to Russian Oligarchs and Mobsters Detailed In Explosive New Documentary from the Netherlands," Dutch TV documentary, Alternet.org, May 12, 2017
Ongoing compilation of Trump's creeping authoritarianism," MotherJones.com
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2017 Gandhi Peace Awards

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Native Americans Win $3.4 Billion Settlement for U.S. Government's Mismanagement of Millions of Acres of Land

RealAudio MP3

Posted July 13, 2011

Interview with Elliott Levitas, attorney with the law firm Kilpatrick Townsend and Stockton, conducted by Melinda Tuhus

After 15 years of litigation, a monumental class action lawsuit regarding trust accounts for half a million Native Americans was settled on June 20 by Judge Thomas Francis Hogan of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Elouise Cobell, a member of the Blackfeet tribe, was the lead plaintiff in an effort to end the abuse, mismanagement and outright fraud that resulted from the U.S. government’s control of 100 million acres of land and its natural resources that were held in trust for individual native Americans after passage of the Dawes Act in 1887. Initially, the federal government denied all these claims, asserting it had no legal responsibility and owed nothing to the native American litigants.

Last year, the Obama administration offered to settle the lawsuit for $3.4 billion. The final settlement in the case known as Cobell v. Salazar, will award at least $1,800 to the descendants of the original enrollees, while named plaintiffs will receive much more. Cobell accepted the deal, saying while it was not everything that was owed, she felt it was important for the native American beneficiaries to receive some payment before more of them died in poverty.

Between The Lines’ Melinda Tuhus spoke with Elliott Levitas of the Atlanta law firm Kilpatrick Townsend and Stockton, who worked on the case for more than 10 years. He describes how the deal was reached and its importance in the annals of class action lawsuits.

ELLIOTT LEVITAS: Even though the trust had been in existence since about 1888, and there had been litigation over the years, this was the first time a court permitted a class action to be brought, so that every individual Indian didn't have to bring their own lawsuit, and that was one of the major impacts of this litigation.

BETWEEN THE LINES: And you told me that this class action would have gone forward even if it was filed after the Supreme Court decision in the WalMart case last month made filing class actions more difficult. I know Ms. Cobell received a larger payment than most beneficiaries will receive.

ELLIOTT LEVITAS: Ms. Cobell, who was really the moving force behind this litigation, actually contributed her own money to keep the litigation going. For example, Ms. Cobell had received one of the so-called McArthur genius awards several years ago for her efforts, and if I remember correctly, I think she contributed about $390,000 of that award of $400,000 to help maintain the litigation, so there is that. In a class action case, the named plaintiffs -- the class representatives, those who are the leaders of the class and who are actively involved in promoting and moving the case along -- are entitled to receive what are called incentive awards, and that is to make it possible for individuals to bring these types of class actions. Ms. Cobell and other of the named plaintiffs, the class representatives, were awarded incentive awards by Judge Hogan.

BETWEEN THE LINES: Elliott Levitas, what's the status of any possible appeal?

ELLIOTT LEVITAS: In a case of this sort, that is, one in which the federal government is a party, after the judgment is entered, they have 60 days to file a notice of appeal. So we won't know for another two months whether there will be appeals filed, notices of appeal filed, and if those notices of appeal are actually pursued. Some members of the class have indicated that they intended to file a notice of appeal and so we'll just have to wait and see until the time period has passed whether there is an appeal that will actually be pursued.

BETWEEN THE LINES: Might the government appeal, or is that not going to happen?

ELLIOTT LEVITAS: The government and the plaintiffs have filed a joint motion for approval, and the outcome of the approval was within the parameters that the government and the plaintiffs had agreed upon. I don't expect there'll be an appeal by the government.

BETWEEN THE LINES: You've worked on this case for more than a decade. How would you sum up the resolution?

ELLIOTT LEVITAS: The outcome of this case is a great victory for Native Americans, and while no settlement is perfect, and this one isn't perfect, it still is a breakthrough. For the first time, the government has been held accountable to these Indian beneficiaries, and that the misconduct, the mismanagement for all those decades has finally been recognized and redress has begun. Equally important is the fact that this decision is the opportunity for a new chapter in relationship between the United States government and the Indian trust beneficiaries, and the rancor of all those years and the mismanagement of these trusts, there's now the opportunity for that to come to an end.

Elliott Levitas is an attorney in the Native American lawsuit Cobell v. Salazar. For more information on the case, visit indiantrust.com.