Bart Stupak, Moxi Upadhyaya, and Justin Nemeroff were recognized as Legal Lions by Law360 and Litigator of the Week runners-up by Am Law Litigation Daily for their representation of a Michigan band of Native Americans that has sought federal recognition for more than 80 years.
On March 25, 2020, a DC federal judge granted a win to the Burt Lake Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, saying the Department of the Interior’s (DOI) 2015 ban on allowing previously denied tribes to reapply is unjustified.
The Burt Lake Band filed suit against the secretary of the DOI and the assistant secretary of the Bureau for Indian Affairs (BIA) in 2017, saying the BIA's "nondecision" on its petition for recognition "discriminatorily precluded the Burt Lake Band from receiving necessary benefits and services, such as access to education, health and welfare programs, which are only available to members of recognized Indian tribes."
The Venable team also included John Cooney and Erin Zacuto Cass.