Latest news with #NixonPeabody
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
State Thruway Authority OKs added funds for firm handling Seneca Nation lawsuit
ALBANY — New York State Thruway Authority officials have agreed to increase by $1 million the payment cap on a contract with the Buffalo-based law firm that is representing the public agency in an ongoing legal dispute with the Seneca Nation of Indians. During a meeting on Tuesday, members of the authority's board of directors unanimously authorized an amendment to an existing contract with Nixon Peabody that will raise the maximum amount payable to the law firm to $1.8 million. The authority's original 2022 agreement capped the amount to be paid to Nixon Peabody at $800,000. The resolution supporting the move notes that Nixon Peabody has provided 'substantial services' pertaining to ongoing litigation involving the Seneca Nation. Seneca leaders filed a lawsuit in 2018 claiming that the state agency failed to obtain the necessary federal approvals for an easement that has allowed the thruway to run through the tribe's Cattaraugus territory for decades. The Nation's lawsuit seeks to compel the state authority to obtain a new easement or compensate the Nation for tolls collected from motorists using the authority on reservation land. It also seeks to end toll collection along the roughly 3-mile section of the thruway, which is about 30 miles south of Buffalo. In 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second District allowed the lawsuit to continue after it rejected an attempt by the state to have it dismissed. The decision upheld a 2020 U.S. District Court ruling. The resolution supporting the pay increase for Nixon Peabody notes that the law firm has provided 'substantial services' pertaining to the litigation over the easement while also serving as bond counsel for authority debt transactions that are reimbursable by the state. The resolution describes the Seneca litigation as 'complex' while indicating that there is also a 'continued need for support' with the authority's state debt transactions.
Boston Globe
03-03-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Rhode Island's former US attorney has a new job in private practice
He will work on both criminal and civil cases, he said. The cases may involve the Department of Justice, though he cannot take cases he personally worked on while he was US attorney. 'I think there are a lot of similarities in terms of trying to make sure that companies and individuals don't find themselves at the crosshairs of government enforcement,' Cunha said of his transition from prosecutor to defense attorney. Get Rhode Map A weekday briefing from veteran Rhode Island reporters, focused on the things that matter most in the Ocean State. Enter Email Sign Up Cunha confirmed the job at the law firm was in the works before he was directed to resign as US attorney for Rhode Island on Feb. 17. He was expecting to lose his job, as is customary when a new president takes office, and had already submitted a letter of resignation that would have taken effect days later. Advertisement 'All of the remaining Biden-appointed US attorneys were informed by the White House that their service had come to a close,' Cunha said. Cunha said he chose Nixon Peabody because a number of colleagues he worked with at the DOJ are now there, including As US attorney, Cunha sued 'You always wish you had time for more, but I'm proud not just of what the office has done, but where the office is and the fact that I've had the opportunity to bring on board some really terrific members of the staff,' Cunha said in a January Advertisement Trump has not yet named a replacement for Cunha. Sara Bloom, who was Cunha's first assistant, is acting US attorney in the interim. 'Sara is a tremendously capable and talented career DOJ attorney,' Cunha said. 'She's eminently capable of running the office at the highest possible standard.' Cunha declined to say if he's considering running for R.I. attorney general next year, an idea that has been repeatedly floated by the current Attorney General Peter Neronha, a former US attorney himself, who is term-limited. 'My focus right now is on navigating this transition to private practice,' Cunha said. 'As for the future, we'll see what happens.' Steph Machado can be reached at
