Overview of Experience
Prior to beginning their partnership as Hageman & Brighton, Ms. Hageman and Ms. Brighton were Assistant Attorneys General for the State of Wyoming, hired specifically to defend against Nebraska ’s claims in Nebraska v. Wyoming, No. 108 Original. While working for the State, Ms. Hageman and Ms. Brighton were responsible for extensive discovery activities, including taking and defending over 100 depositions, production of documents, and working with witnesses. Ms. Hageman and Ms. Brighton were also responsible for trial preparation, technical review, working with over twenty-five expert witnesses, and administration and management of the litigation.
After beginning their partnership, Hageman & Brighton continued to represent Wyoming in relation to the administration and implementation of the Final Settlement Stipulation and Modified North Platte River Decree (collectively referred to as the Modified Decree), which was adopted by the United States Supreme Court in November 2001. This work included the management of day-to-day implementation activities, as well as continued legal research and analysis. The Modified Decree was agreed to by the parties after approximately 14 years of litigation over the water rights and entitlements associated with the North Platte River .
Ms. Hageman and Ms. Brighton also represented the State of Wyoming, through the Wyoming Water Development Commission, in the “Cooperative Agreement for Platte River Research and Other Efforts Relating to Endangered Species Habitats Along the Central Platte River, Nebraska,” (Cooperative Agreement). The Cooperative Agreement is a three-state (Wyoming, Colorado, Nebraska) and Federal Government (United States Fish & Wildlife Service and United States Bureau of Reclamation), program that is designed to secure defined benefits for certain target species (whooping crane, piping plover, interior least tern, and pallid sturgeon) and their use of the Central Platte River. The Cooperative Agreement has, and will continue to have, an impact on water use and management throughout the North Platte River Basin. The Cooperative Agreement work involved review and evaluation of extensive technical and legal materials, as well as the negotiation of specific details of the thirteen-year program that is designed to provide the State of Wyoming with regulatory certainty under the Endangered Species Act.
Hageman & Brighton also represented Wyoming in State of Wyoming v. United States Department of Agriculture , United States Forest Service, Ann Veneman, and Dale Bosworth , Case No. 01-CV-086B, related to land use and management of over nine million acres of National Forest Service lands within Wyoming ’s borders. Specifically, Wyoming filed suit challenging the defendants’ adoption of the “Roadless Rule,” the purpose of which was to prohibit management and use of approximately one-third of Wyoming’s National Forests (a total of 3.2 million acres) and one-third of all National Forest lands throughout the United States (approximately 58.5 million acres). On July 14, 2003, Judge Brimmer of the United States District Court for the District of Wyoming entered a permanent injunction against the Roadless Rule, finding that it was adopted in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act and the Wilderness Act. Judge Brimmer’s decision had the effect of enjoining implementation of the Roadless Rule throughout the United States. This decision was revisited in 2009, with Judge Brimmer again ruling that the Roadless Rule was adopted in violation of NEPA and the Wilderness Act. Hageman and Brighton represent The Blue Ribbon Coalition and related entities in this latest litigation.
Hageman & Brighton has been hired by the Wyoming Stock Growers Association (WSGA) and Wyoming Wool Growers Association (WWGA) to handle several different issues important to the agriculture community. Those files include defending Wyoming ’s open range law, and evaluation of management of predatory animals.
Hageman & Brighton again was recently retained by a coalition of numerous associations, counties, predatory animal boards, sportsmen groups, outfitters, and other entities to challenge the Fish & Wildlife Service’s decision related to the gray wolf population that was introduced in Wyoming in 1994. This Coalition is challenging the Fish & Wildlife Service's decision to reject Wyoming's management plan, and to delist the wolves in Montana and Idaho, while retaining control in Wyoming.
Hageman & Brighton’s clients have included the Wheatland Irrigation District, Shoshone Irrigation District, LaPrele Irrigation District, Deaver Irrigation District, Heart Moutain Irrigation District, Willwood Irrigation District, Goshen Irrigation District, T Cross T Ranch, NERD Gas, Lucerne Canal and Power Company, West Afton Sprinkler Company, New North Platte Irrigation & Ditch Company, City of Lander, City of Laramie, the Board of County Commissioners for Goshen County, and the Board of County Commissioners for Sweetwater County. Hageman & Brighton is also involved with regulatory actions governed by the Clean Water Act and the Clean Air Act. We have worked for several clients to ensure compliance with Wyoming’s water statutes, addressing matters such as obtaining the necessary approval for a “change of use,” “change in point of diversion,” and abandonment proceedings before the State Board of Control. Ms. Hageman has argued before the Nebraska Supreme Court in a dispute between a surface water user and 24 groundwater users and their respective entitlements to surface and subsurface flows.