Four Dentons partners have been honored by Law360 as MVPs for their individual successes in high-stakes litigation, record-breaking deals and complex global matters. The partners, Matthew Adams, Keith Moskowitz and V. Heather Sibbison, were each selected for contributing the most to their respective practice areas in the past year.

"These awards reflect a deep commitment to client service and true dedication to the ideals of our profession," said US Managing Partner Mike McNamara. "Heather, Jon, Keith and Matt personify our firmwide focus on delivering the best for clients, and we congratulate each of them on this well-deserved honor."

The following Dentons partners achieved recognition:

• Law360 MVP of the Year for NALP in 2016 - Matthew Adams: Matthew co-chairs Dentons' US Environment and Natural Resources practice, and is very active in our Native American Law and Policy practice. A successful highlight for Law360 is Matthew's role as outside counsel to the Lummi Indian Nation in connection with the tribe’s opposition to a coal export terminal proposed to be built on Puget Sound, adjacent to the tribe’s reservation. The terminal would be the largest facility of its type in North America and has been valued at more than US$700 million. It is proposed to be built atop the remains of an ancient Lummi village and within the traditional fishing grounds reserved for the tribe by the 1855 Treaty of Point Elliott. The matter presents novel questions of law concerning the scope of the tribe’s treaty fishing rights and the appropriate consideration to be given those rights in decisions under the National Environmental Policy Act and the Clean Water Act. In May 2016, Dentons helped the Lummi Indian Nation secure a published legal opinion by the United States Army Corps of Engineers confirming that the tribe's natural resource treaty rights trump federal environmental law. It is the first such opinion ever issued by the Army Corps.
• Law360 MVP of the Year for Insurance in 2016 - Keith Moskowitz: Keith co-leads Dentons' global Insurance sector and Insurance Litigation practices. He was recognized by Law360 for his work in several insurance litigations. In one of these, Arrowood Indemnity Company v. Lubrizol Corporation, Keith was trial counsel representing Arrowood in an environmental insurance coverage and bad faith action. Lubrizol had originally sought coverage with respect to significant environmental liabilities in connection with action taken by United States Environmental Protection Agency regarding the Patrick Bayou Superfund site, a tributary of the Houston Ship Channel near Galveston, Texas. After an unfavorable ruling on summary judgment, Lubrizol pursued a bad faith action. Keith and a team of Dentons lawyers, including partner and co-counsel John Grossbart, successfully tried the case to verdict. The jury found in favor of Arrowood on the primary bad faith issue. This was a complex and novel insurance bad faith case that presented significant trial challenges.
• Law360 MVP of the Year for NALP in 2016 - V. Heather Sibbison: Heather is the head of the Native American Law and Policy group at Dentons. Arguably the most important of her achievements in the last year is the win she achieved for the Cowlitz Tribe in the DC Circuit Court of Appeals. It stems from a decision by the Interior Department to take land into trust and make it a reservation for Cowlitz, the agency's first administrative application of the Supreme Court’s 2009 opinion in Carcieri v. Salazar. Carcieri adopted a difficult new interpretation of the Interior Department's trust acquisition authority, holding that tribes have to demonstrate that in 1934 they were “under federal jurisdiction." The plaintiffs appealed, and on July 29, 2016, the DC Circuit again found in favor of the Cowlitz Tribe on all counts. The litigation win is significant for many tribes in addition to Cowlitz because Interior subsequently issued a formal legal opinion adopting the Cowlitz “Carcieri test” for all future fee-to-trust applications. While the Cowlitz case was a team effort, Heather led the team to an incredibly important victory, not just for Cowlitz, but for Indian Country in general.

About Dentons

Redefining possibilities. Together, everywhere. For more information visit dentons.com