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Preserving Native-American Heritage over Other Best-Interest Considerations
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear the appeal of Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl, 398 S.C. 625, (S.C. 2012), a case in which the Supreme Court of South Carolina confirmed a lower court's return of a Native-American child to her biological father, a member of the Cherokee Nation, over the objections of her would-be adoptive parents, who are not American Indians. The state high court based its decision on the dictates of the Federal Indian Child Welfare Act, 25 U.S.C.S. ' 1901 et. seq. (ICWA), a law enacted in 1978 to promote the rights of Native Americans and their tribes to maintain their heritage in the face of encroachment by the greater U.S. culture. Congress had deemed the legislation necessary because, prior to its enactment, Indian children were being removed from their homes at an alarming rate on the basis of neglect findings precipitated in large part by the tendency of “many social workers, ignorant of Indian cultural values and social norms … [to] discover neglect or abandonment where none exists.” H.R. Rep. No. 1386, at 22 (1978), reprinted in 1978 U.S.C.C.A.N. 7530, 7533.'
The questions raised by Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl concern both the trial court's findings of fact and just how the ICWA should sway the balance of competing interests: the child's, the biological parents', the adoptive parents', and the tribe's. The case is being closely watched by family practitioners and others interested in child welfare law, as its outcome will affect the adoption prospects of Native-American children nationwide.
Bankruptcy Sales: Finding a Diamond In the Rough
There is no efficient market for the sale of bankruptcy assets. Inefficient markets yield a transactional drag, potentially dampening the ability of debtors and trustees to maximize value for creditors. This article identifies ways in which investors may more easily discover bankruptcy asset sales.
Judge Rules Shaquille O'Neal Will Face Securities Lawsuit for Promotion, Sale of NFTs
A federal district court in Miami, FL, has ruled that former National Basketball Association star Shaquille O'Neal will have to face a lawsuit over his promotion of unregistered securities in the form of cryptocurrency tokens and that he was a "seller" of these unregistered securities.
Why So Many Great Lawyers Stink at Business Development and What Law Firms Are Doing About It
Why is it that those who are best skilled at advocating for others are ill-equipped at advocating for their own skills and what to do about it?
Blockchain Domains: New Developments for Brand Owners
Blockchain domain names offer decentralized alternatives to traditional DNS-based domain names, promising enhanced security, privacy and censorship resistance. However, these benefits come with significant challenges, particularly for brand owners seeking to protect their trademarks in these new digital spaces.
'Insurable Interest' and the Scope of First-Party Coverage
This article reviews the fundamental underpinnings of the concept of insurable interest, and certain recent cases that have grappled with the scope of insurable interest and have articulated a more meaningful application of the concept to claims under first-party property policies.