Lac Vieux Tribe Wins $94 Million Casino Settlement

26 November 2003

DETROIT, Michigan – (Press Release) -- After a seven-year legal battle with the City of Detroit and powerful gaming interests, the 430-member Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians won a significant victory today with the signing of a settlement that pays the tribe nearly $100 million in compensation for being unfairly shut out of a 1997 bidding process to select builders for new casinos in Detroit.

The law firm of Monteau & Peebles has represented the tribe throughout litigation and settlement negotiations. Announced today, the settlement means that MotorCity Casino and Greektown Casino will each pay the tribe $39.5 million. Two former principals with Greektown Casino will pay $15 million for a total compensation award of $94 million. The settlement does not require the City of Detroit to pay any compensation.

The builder of a third casino, MGM Grand, has refused to settle and the tribe continues legal action against the company before the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, where the tribe expects to secure a court-ordered reselection of the casino development that originally favored MGM.

"The agreement partially compensates the tribe for the violation of its constitutional rights," said Conly Schulte, legal counsel for the tribe and a partner with Monteau & Peebles. "This is a classic David and Goliath story. The tribe was expected to cave in after being ignored by the city and large Las Vegas corporations, but instead held its ground and ultimately prevailed."

Schulte received assistance in the litigation from Professor G. Michael Fenner of the Creighton University School of Law.

"It is a great day for the First Amendment and for the City of Detroit," Fenner said. "It is a great day for the First Amendment because the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld important constitutional principles that go to the heart of how we are governed. It is a great day for the City of Detroit because Mayor Kwame M. Kilpatrick has brokered a settlement of most of this litigation, a settlement that means that two of Detroit's casinos

-- MotorCity and Greektown -- can begin construction of their permanent hotel and casino facilities."

The tribe plans to use compensation payments to help fund programs for education, services to the elderly and job creation, along with enhancing governmental services to all tribal members.

An injunction issued by the court in September 2002 had frozen permanent casino construction by MGM, MotorCity and Greektown. Today's settlement will allow MotorCity and Greektown to proceed with building permanent casinos and hotels and open them by 2006, when Detroit will host the NFL Superbowl.

The tribe has argued for seven years that the city's awarding of bids to two developers, who campaigned to legalize casinos in Detroit, was unconstitutional and that the City of Detroit should re-open bidding. Schulte won significant victories in the seven-year legal battle with the 2002 determination that the selection process was unconstitutional, and later with the injunction, where judges ordered casino construction halted because it was apparent the tribe would probably prevail in court.

"In its 2002 decision, the court foresaw the success that we're experiencing today with this settlement. It's a success that I'm very confident will be duplicated in our action against MGM," Schulte said.

Monteau & Peebles, LLP is a national law firm specializing in federal Indian law, gaming negotiations, business transactions and administrative law. Representing tribes throughout the United States, the firm maintains offices in Sacramento, Calif.; Washington D.C.; Missoula, Mont.; Omaha, Neb.; and Phoenix, Ariz.