Marzulla Law Blog
Courthouse Steps Oral Argument Teleforum: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service v. Sierra Club
Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service v. Sierra Club, an important case involving the Government’s use of the deliberative process privilege (Exemption 5) to avoid producing documents in response to a request made under...
Discovery Relevant and Proportional to the Needs of the Case
Any discovery in a lawsuit in federal court, under Rule 26(c)(1), must concern only matters “relevant to any party’s claim or defense and proportional to the needs of the case.” Relevancy is broadly defined and is generally considered a less useful test than...
Roger Marzulla Comments on Google Antitrust Lawsuit
Roger Marzulla was asked by Bloomberg Law to comment on the selection of Department of Justice attorney, Kenneth Dintzer, to lead the federal government’s antitrust lawsuit again Google. Marzulla praised the selection of Dintzer, but noted that his appointment as lead...
U.S. Court of Federal Claims James Madison Award Presented to Nancie Marzulla
(Washington, D.C. – October 15, 2020) Nancie G. Marzulla, a founding partner of Marzulla Law LLC, today received the U.S. Court of Federal Claims James Madison Award at the Court's 31st Annual Virtual Judicial Conference for her “outstanding service to the...
Indemnification Agreement No Bar to Plaintiff’s Right to Recover
Pacific Wind, LLC owns a wind farm in Kern County, California, which it leased to a subsidiary of EDF Renewable Energy, Inc. In 2012, the wind farm was sold to PacWind Holdings Lessor Trust and then leased back to EDF for a 20-year term. After placing the wind farm in...
Render unto the Corps What is Due for the Caesar Creek Project
In 1970, the United States Army Corps of Engineers and the Ohio Department of Natural Resources entered into a flood control and water supply contract for the Caesar Creek Project, which is located at a tributary of the Little Miami River in Ohio. The Caesar Creek...
How to Win Your Case but Lose Your Attorneys’ Fees
Having litigated a case for years and negotiated a hefty settlement with the Department of Justice—being paid your attorneys’ fees and costs for handling the litigation would seem to be a given. Maybe not. In 2017, a class of former employees at the Department of...
Can zealous advocacy and the duty of candor be reconciled?
Attorneys want to win their cases for their clients—a goal encouraged by clients everywhere, including the United States when it is a client of the Department of Justice. But unless care is exercised, that duty of zealous representation can slip into violating the...
Taking of Water Rights: The Fifth Amendment’s Wild Horse Ride
During the summer of 2017, a herd of roaming wild horses set about foraging and drinking water on land owned by Bench Creek Ranch, LLC, in Washoe County, Nevada. The Bureau of Land Management rebuffed the Ranch owners’ attempts to be paid for the water consumed by the...
The Appalachian Trail to the Supreme Court
On June 15, 2020 the Supreme Court held that traditional property law and statutory language combine to make the Appalachian Trail, maintained by the National Park Service, a Congressionally granted right to use Forest Service land—removing a major obstacle to the...
Your Guide on How to Protect Your Rights in Federal Takings and Inverse Condemnation Actions
Are you facing a taking from the government? Need to understand what a taking is and what you can do about it? Read our Takings Law Guide.