Mr. Whitney's representative work includes a series of successful outcomes pursuing false advertising claims against product review websites, a landmark victory clarifying copyright fair use and parody on behalf of several well - known musicians; a defense win dismissing copyright infringement claims brought by a putative class of
attorneys against the leading legal research websites; a favorable outcome for a high - end beauty products company in a
trademark and trade dress action against a manufacturer of knock - off products; a district and appellate court decision dismissing all claims by a proposed class against an international bank for alleged violations of, among other things, the Federal False Marking
Act, RICO and the CAN - SPAM
Act; and counseling prominent art museums and galleries on domestic and international copyright issues.
Business Development: Brokering various business dealings that further the diversification of Indian economies Developing and accessing commercial financial programs and services for tribal governments, including tax - exempt offerings and federally - guaranteed housing loans Serving as issuer or underwriter's counsel in tribal bond issuances Ensuring tribal compliance with Bank Secrecy
Act and other federal financial regulatory requirements Handling federal and state income, excise, B&O, property and other tax matters for tribes and tribal businesses Chartering tribal business enterprises under tribal, state and federal law Registering and protecting tribal
trademarks and copyrights Negotiating franchise agreements for restaurants and retail stores on Indian reservations Custom - tailoring construction contracts for tribes and general contractors Helping secure federal SBA 8 (a) and other contracting preferences for Indian - owned businesses Facilitating contractual relations between tribes and tribal casinos, and gaming vendors Building tribal workers» compensation and self - insurance programs Government Relations: Handling state and federal regulatory matters in the areas of tribal gaming, environmental and cultural resources, workers» compensation, taxation, health care and education Negotiating tribal - state gaming compacts and fuel and cigarette compacts, and inter-local land use and law enforcement agreements Advocacy before the Washington State Gambling Commission, Washington Indian Gaming Association and National Indian Gaming Commission Preparing tribal codes and regulations, including tribal court, commercial, gaming, taxation, energy development, environmental and cultural resources protection, labor & employment, and workers» compensation laws Developing employee handbooks, manuals and personnel policies Advocacy in areas of treaty rights, gaming, jurisdiction, taxation, environmental and cultural resource protection Brokering fee - to - trust and related real estate and jurisdictional transactions Litigation & Appellate Services: Handling complex Indian law litigation, including commercial, labor & employment, tax, land use, treaty rights, natural and cultural resource matters Litigating tribal trust mismanagement claims against the United States, and evaluating tribal and individual property claims under the Indian Claims Limitation
Act Defending tribes and tribal insureds from tort claims brought against them in tribal, state and federal courts, including defense tenders pursuant to the Federal Tort Claims
Act Assisting tribal insureds in insurance coverage negotiations, and litigation Representing individual tribal members in tribal and state civil and criminal proceedings, including BIA prosecutions and Indian probate proceedings Assisting tribal governments with tribal, state and federal court appeals, including the preparation of amicus curiae briefs Our Indian law & gaming
attorneys collaborate to publish the quarterly «Indian Legal Advisor ``, designed to provide Indian Country valuable information about legal and political developments affecting tribal rights.
It does not happen every day that you can see a
trademark case decided by the EU General Court with a Polish claimant (EUTM applicant), represented by his Polish
attorney, with a Polish judge as the rapporteur and even with Polish national
acting as the EUIPO's representative.
Our
attorneys have considerable experience in all of the legal issues affecting a business's ability to promote its offerings, including claim substantiation, Lanham
Act false advertising, social media promotions, state unfair competition, First Amendment protection for commercial speech, FDA labeling rules,
trademark, copyright, product disparagement, right of publicity, keyword advertising disputes, sweepstakes and contests, privacy and data security.