Aerospace & Defense

  • July 08, 2026

    DHS Says Tribe Has No Veto Over Arizona Border Wall

    The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, with the backing of Arizona's top legislative leaders, are seeking to dismiss the Tohono O'odham Nation's bid to block construction of 62 miles of border wall, arguing it's well within its authority to build the structure to address national and public safety threats.

  • July 08, 2026

    Immigration Board Rejects Asylum Tied To Conscription

    The Board of Immigration Appeals said a fear of conscription alone was not enough to establish that a Russian man was a refugee facing persecution in his home country, overturning an immigration judge's decision that granted him asylum.

  • July 08, 2026

    Trump Threatens To Cut Spanish Relations Over Defense Rift

    President Donald Trump threatened Wednesday to cut off relations entirely with Spain, calling the country an unreliable partner during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.

  • July 08, 2026

    FCC Cuts Space License Backlog In Half, Bureau Chief Says

    The Federal Communications Commission has cut a backlog of applications for space-based industry licenses by more than half since adopting an "assembly line" approach to clearing paperwork, the agency's top official on space policy said Wednesday.

  • July 08, 2026

    EU Parliament Approves Mexico Trade Agreement

    The European Parliament approved two pieces of legislation to implement the modernized trade agreement between the bloc and Mexico on Wednesday.

  • July 08, 2026

    Trump's SDNY Pick Steps In As Clayton Focuses On DC

    U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton said Wednesday that President Donald Trump's pick to succeed him, James McDonald, will assume a leadership role as Clayton works on his own nomination for Director of National Intelligence in Washington, D.C.

  • July 08, 2026

    Nadine Menendez Loses Bid To Delay Prison For Surgery

    A New York federal judge on Wednesday denied Nadine Menendez's request to postpone her prison surrender by more than three months so she could complete breast cancer-related reconstructive surgeries, rejecting the request after a telephone conference with the parties.

  • July 08, 2026

    Gov't Says Guantánamo Detentions Within Removal Authority

    The Trump administration told a D.C. federal court that it acted within its statutory authority to detain noncitizens at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba who've been ordered to be deported, arguing their presence outside U.S. borders doesn't mean removal has already been completed.

  • July 08, 2026

    Red Cat Says Investor Suit Confuses Predictions With Fraud

    Drone maker Red Cat Holdings Inc. asked a New Jersey federal judge to toss a proposed class action accusing it of misleading investors, asserting that it is "doing very well" and that the suit's "fraud-by-hindsight" allegations cannot get off the ground.

  • July 08, 2026

    Biggest Rulings For Patent Attys In 2026: A Midyear Report

    The U.S. Supreme Court clarified the pleading standard for induced infringement of skinny labels, and the Federal Circuit opened the door to increased damages for patent owners. Here's what you need to know about these patent cases and other major decisions from the beginning of 2026.

  • July 08, 2026

    4 Colorado Cases To Watch For The Rest Of 2026

    A federal judge's ruling on whether the Trump administration can move U.S. Space Command's headquarters from Colorado to Alabama and a jury's determination of liability for a private prison operator in a forced labor class action are among the Colorado court cases to watch in the coming months. Here, Law360 looks at four Colorado cases to watch for the rest of 2026.

  • July 07, 2026

    Court OKs DLA Lubricant Purchases Under Simplified Regs

    The U.S. Court of Federal Claims said the Defense Logistics Agency was justified in restricting full and open competition over requests for a lubricant helping vehicles run on a flat tire, finding authorization under simplified and emergency acquisition regulations.

  • July 07, 2026

    ​​​​​​​Top Groups Lobbying The FCC

    The Federal Communications Commission heard from lobbyists more than 140 times in June, with AT&T at the front of the pack hoping to convince the agency to preempt California rules that the telecom giant says are hindering network modernization.

  • July 07, 2026

    Feds Ordered To Revisit Lock-And-Dam Contract Award

    A Court of Federal Claims judge has scrapped a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers award for a river lock and dam project in Oklahoma, ruling that a disparity in its evaluation of proposals may have caused one company to land the deal over another.

  • July 07, 2026

    How Gibson Dunn Helped SpaceX Pull Off Its $75B Global IPO

    When SpaceX completed its record-breaking $75 billion initial public offering last month, the transaction was notable not only for its size — the largest IPO ever — but also for breaking new ground in how public offerings can be structured to reach retail investors around the world.

  • July 07, 2026

    USPTO To Set Up Outreach Centers At Ga., Ala. HBCUs

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is planning to launch projects in Georgia and Alabama to connect historically Black colleges and universities in those states with partners to help develop and commercialize inventions.

  • July 07, 2026

    Consultant Says FARA Verdict Should Be Erased

    A political consultant convicted of knowingly failing to register as a foreign agent as she helped draft a $50 million contract involving a former congressman and Venezuela's state-owned oil enterprise continues to argue she should be acquitted or given a new trial, saying the verdict was "against the great weight of the evidence."

  • July 07, 2026

    Legal Tech Co. Drops Suit After Anthropic Embargo Is Lifted

    Legal tech company Legion has voluntarily dropped its claims against the Commerce Department over an order forcing artificial intelligence platform Anthropic to shut down two of its advanced models to foreigners, days after news broke that the government had rescinded the directive.

  • July 07, 2026

    Ex-DOJ Employees Tell Senate To Reject Blanche Nomination

    Hundreds of former Justice Department employees and appointees urged the Senate in a Tuesday letter to reject the nomination of acting Attorney General Todd Blanche for the permanent role, particularly noting what they called Blanche's work toward politicizing the department.

  • July 07, 2026

    Thales Seeks Full Purchase Of Drone-Maker Exail For €3.9B

    Defense and aerospace group Thales has agreed to acquire a controlling stake in Exail Technologies and plans to buy its remaining shares, a transaction that values the maritime drone-maker at €3.9 billion ($4.5 billion).

  • July 06, 2026

    Trump's AI Cyber Directive Leaves Cos. Guessing At Upside

    A recent executive order intended to boost the security of advanced artificial intelligence systems hinges on developers voluntarily making their models available to the government for prerelease testing, but lingering questions about the potential trade-offs of this exchange raise doubts about the ultimate effectiveness of this model.

  • July 06, 2026

    New Chinese Lobbying Law Raises Q's For DOD Contractors

    Defense contractors are struggling to navigate a new law that bars the Pentagon from contracting with companies that hire lobbyists for Chinese military companies, given the statute's broad definition of lobbying activities and lack of clarity surrounding its implementation.

  • July 06, 2026

    House Bill Aims To Block Fiber From 'Countries of Concern'

    A recently introduced bipartisan House bill would block the use of federal funds to purchase fiber-optic network gear from "countries of concern," as the bill's sponsors described foreign adversaries.

  • July 06, 2026

    GAO OKs NASA's Ax Of Bid For $20B Deals Over Missing Info

    The U.S. Government Accountability Office said NASA was justified in eliminating an aerospace company from a competition for up to $20 billion in IT contracts, saying the company's proposal failed to verify compliance with industry standards for combating cybersecurity threats.

  • July 06, 2026

    After Tense Terms, Hints Of High Court Harmony With Circuits

    Following several U.S. Supreme Court terms teeming with reversals and rebukes of lower appeals courts, the justices this term found fault less often with rulings by circuit judges, who are likely becoming better attuned to the conservative supermajority, attorneys say.

Expert Analysis

  • Quantum Readiness May Paradoxically Raise Contractor Risk

    Author Photo

    The organizations best positioned for the cryptographic system migration deadlines and other requirements under President Donald Trump’s recent quantum executive orders will be those able to inventory their cryptographic dependencies while protecting their vulnerability road map from adversaries, says Jesse Lemon at The Beckage Firm.

  • Justices Stand On Statutory Specifics In Cisco And Landor

    Author Photo

    With its June 23 decisions in Cisco Systems Inc. v. Doe and Landor v. Louisiana Department of Corrections and Public Safety, the U.S. Supreme Court doubled down on the critical point that the statute invoked in a federal claim must authorize a private lawsuit and the remedy sought, says Patrick Judd at Phelps Dunbar.

  • Trump EOs Pair Quantum Push With Cyber Defense Overhaul

    Author Photo

    Two recent executive orders that mark a significant federal commitment to both advancing and defending against quantum technology create potential opportunities for companies in the quantum, AI and technology sectors and pose future compliance obligations contractors should begin considering now, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

  • Series

    Choral Singing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    Singing in the New York City Bar Chorus — a hobby partly inspired by the late U.S. District Judge Richard Owen, who infused my clerkship year with opera music — has improved my legal career by refining my abilities to listen, exude confidence and develop emotional intelligence, says Bonnie Baker at Friedman Kaplan.

  • Attorney Mental Health Is An Ethical Obligation In The AI Era

    Author Photo

    As attorneys cope with the increasing unpredictability that artificial intelligence and constant policy changes have created, particularly in practice areas where they carry the emotional weight of clients’ most consequential life events, otherwise soft discussions about self-care are a matter of professional competence, says attorney Jack Jrada.

  • More Cos. Will Copy SpaceX's Shareholder Proposal Opt-Out

    Author Photo

    For more than 80 years, the shareholder proposal looked like a federal right guaranteed to all public company investors, but after SpaceX opted out before its recent initial public offering, other companies are likely to follow, says Mohsen Manesh at the University of Oregon School of Law.

  • Perfectus Deal Raises Trade Missteps To Enterprise Risk Level

    Author Photo

    Former inspector general Parisa Salehi at Parker Poe discusses what the U.S. Department of Justice's recently settled False Claims Act case against Perfectus Aluminum can teach companies about satisfying trade reporting obligations as agencies increasingly coordinate enforcement.

  • Series

    Power To The Paralegals: Burnout As A Structural Problem

    Author Photo

    Law firm leadership can best retain their paralegals not by encouraging self-care, but by seeking top-down structural solutions for the quiet proliferation of responsibilities and the vicarious exposure to client trauma that particularly drive burnout in this vital role, says Erika Sneeringer at Brockstedt Mandalas.

  • 2 Prediction Market Cases Will Test Insider Trading Theory

    Author Photo

    Prosecutors in two recent Southern District of New York cases have filed separate charges against two defendants who used confidential information gathered from each employer to place prediction market bets, but each prosecution must overcome different legal hurdles established by the U.S. Supreme Court and the Second Circuit, says John Siffert at Lankler Siffert.

  • Ill. Law Firm MSO Bill Clashes With Court Power, Ethics Rules

    Author Photo

    An Illinois bill prohibiting law firms from certain business arrangements with management service organizations, sent to the governor for signature last week, encroaches upon the courts' constitutional powers and goes beyond the Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct in regulating investment in law-related services, says Matthew O’Hara at Smith Gambrell.

  • Constructing AI Compliance Plans As State Laws Diverge

    Author Photo

    With Colorado, Connecticut and the federal government recently announcing wildly different approaches to artificial intelligence regulation, creating a workable compliance program means addressing overlapping obligations using shared systems rather than separate silos, say attorneys at Ogletree.

  • Opinion

    State Courts Must Be Gatekeepers Of Expert Testimony

    Author Photo

    Based on my experience in the state judiciary, emulating federal courts' role as gatekeepers of expert witness testimony would help state court judges maintain the appearance of impartiality and assist juries, thus enhancing the overall confidence people have in their justice system, says Lorie Gildea at Greenberg Traurig.

  • Weighing The Implications Of The Anthropic Export Directive

    Author Photo

    The Trump administration recently issued an export control directive against Anthropic to suspend all access to Fable 5 and Mythos 5 by any foreign national, representing one of the first uses of the regime against a frontier large language model in widespread commercial distribution, says attorney Sohan Dasgupta.

  • Series

    Moshing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    Entering a mosh pit is much like entering the practice of law — it is difficult, you have to know both the written and unwritten rules, and conduct yourself according to the expectations of each community, says Christopher Deubert at Constangy Brooks.

  • Brief Iran Sanctions Pause Will Most Benefit Non-US Cos.

    Author Photo

    Due to its short duration, the Office of Foreign Assets Control’s recently issued general license easing Iran sanctions will mostly benefit companies with preexisting commercial relationships involving Iranian petroleum, and is unlikely to mitigate overcompliance and de-risking behavior by U.S. and foreign financial institutions, says Michelle Roberts at Berliner Corcoran.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here