Tim Purdon

NAFUSA member Tim Purdon will represent the Standing Rock Sioux tribal leaders who have been sued by Dakota Access LLC in federal court in Bismarck, North Dakota, for protesting the pipeline construction. As reported on August 29, NAFUSA member Bill Leone is representing Dakota Access in the related litigation in federal court in Washington, DC where the tribe is suing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and Dakota Access is an intervenor.

The tribe is protesting the pipeline’s route passing through ancestral lands, threatening burial grounds, sacred sites and other historical significant areas. The Bismarck complaint alleges the tribal leaders tried to block Dakota Access from entering and exiting the construction site. U.S. District Judge Daniel Hovland granted a temporary restraining order against the tribal leaders and others. A hearing is set for September 8 to determine if a preliminary injunction should issue.

Purdon served as the U.S. Attorney for the North Dakota until last year when he resigned and is now a partner in the Bismarck office of Robbins Kaplan, where he is co-chair of the American Indian Law and Policy Group.