Friday, November 14, 2008

Cook v. Avi Casino Enterprises (9th Cir. - Nov. 14, 2008)

There's some very good stuff in here about diversity jurisdiction as applied to corporations created by Indian tribes. It's a neat little issue -- at least for those of us fascinated by procedure -- and a matter on which there's both a dearth of authority and reasonable grounds for dispute. As evidenced by the fact that the majority opinion on this issue, written by Judge Gould, doesn't obtain the asset of Judge Fernandez, who dissents.

But there's an even larger, and more practically important, lesson to be learned as well. Which is this:

Drive extra carefully around Indian casinos. Because even if they were grossly negligent and served clearly intoxicated casino employees, you can't sue.

Judge Gould concurs to expressly mention that he's not happy about this result. But it's nonetheless the law.

Let's be careful out there.