Ever since senior Obama administration officials announced the landmark $3.4 billion settlement in a fiercely contested American Indian trust class action last year, the plaintiffs’ lawyers and government attorneys haven’t shown much public acrimony.
Lawyers for lead plaintiff Elouise Cobell are quick to recount that the negotiations that produced the settlement in December 2009 were contentious and, at times, required breaks. Still, the opposing lawyers have been bent on getting the settlement through Congress and put in front of a judge.
