Scott Ortiz and Zara Mason, with Williams, Porter, Day, and Neville, recently won a case representing the law firm that was being sued by a Native American Tribe.
The tribe made allegations against their former law firm that, in 2019, the firm had stolen a million dollars of the tribe’s money out of a trust account.
When the tribe failed to prove that WPDN’s client stole money from their trust, they switched tactics and accused their former firm of grossly overbilling the tribe over a period of 7 years. The case was tried over one week in July of 2022 in Lander, Wyoming. After an hour, the jury came back with a verdict that stated WPDN’s client did not overbill the tribe, nor did they wrongfully take any tribal funds. WPDN then sued the tribe’s new attorneys for slander, and that case was quickly settled. The tribe itself was sanctioned for making such an egregious allegation.
The jury unanimously agreed with their client. According to Ortiz, “It was tragic that, after three decades of dedicated service, our client was put in the position to have to defend themselves.”