Aerospace & Defense

  • January 30, 2025

    Buddhist Temple Urges Halt To Army Corps' Everglades Plan

    A Buddhist temple on Thursday urged a Florida federal court to temporarily halt a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' restoration project in the Everglades set to begin next week, saying the impacts of construction will deter visitors to the temple and disrupt its First Amendment right to religious freedom.

  • January 30, 2025

    Canadian Pot Equipment CEO Says CBP Illegally Booted Him

    The Canadian CEO of a company that makes cannabis agricultural equipment has sued the U.S. Homeland Security Department and Customs and Border Protection, saying they detained him at the U.S.-Canada border and ordered his removal for allegedly abetting the spread of narcotics despite a prior U.S. Court of International Trade finding that his company was operating legally.

  • January 30, 2025

    Ligado Creditor Pans 'Exorbitant' Fees For $115M DIP Loan

    Satellite communications company Ligado Networks LLC's largest unsecured creditor asked a Delaware bankruptcy judge to reject the company's proposed $115 million Chapter 11 financing package, saying Ligado's secured lenders were seeking to help themselves to $100 million in fees as part of the deal.

  • January 30, 2025

    Rumors Fly As Trump Seeks Deal To Keep TikTok Alive

    President Donald Trump seems to be getting exactly the "bidding war" he wanted as multiple entities fight for a role in keeping TikTok available in the U.S. Here, Law360 provides a rundown of the latest rumors and developments in the TikTok saga, along with other notable rumors from the past week.

  • January 30, 2025

    Nelson Mullins-Led Serco Unit To Buy Defense Biz For $327M

    Serco Group PLC said Thursday that a subsidiary has agreed to buy a defense software business from U.S. aerospace giant Northrop Grumman Corp. for $327 million, allowing it to tap into the "huge" sector as geopolitical tensions threaten to boil over.

  • January 29, 2025

    Trump Orders Guantánamo Prep For 30K 'Criminal' Migrants

    President Donald Trump on Wednesday directed the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to prepare Naval Station Guantánamo Bay to detain tens of thousands of "high-priority criminal" undocumented migrants, a move he previewed before signing an anticipated law aimed at detaining migrants charged with certain offenses.

  • January 29, 2025

    4th Circ. Mulls If Tossing No-Poach Suit Rewards Bad Behavior

    As the Fourth Circuit mulled the idea of reviving a proposed class action accusing military shipbuilding contractors of agreeing not to poach each other's engineers, one judge rebuffed the idea that the suit had no legs because there were no specific allegations of fraudulent concealment.

  • January 29, 2025

    USPTO Backlog 'Unacceptable,' Trump's Commerce Pick Says

    Commerce secretary nominee Howard Lutnick said at his confirmation hearing Wednesday that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's backlog of unexamined patent applications is "unacceptable," and pledged to work to reduce it so that patents are issued more quickly.

  • January 29, 2025

    Families Of Slain Urge Justices To Uphold Terror Victim Law

    Relatives of U.S. nationals killed in terrorist attacks in Israel told the U.S. Supreme Court this week that the Second Circuit was wrong to invalidate a federal law that broadened jurisdiction for Anti-Terrorism Act cases against the Palestine Liberation Organization.

  • January 29, 2025

    6th Circ. Doubts Free Speech Flouted By Deer Hunt Drone Ban

    Sixth Circuit judges sounded skeptical on Wednesday that a drone company can challenge a Michigan law barring drone use to hunt deer by claiming the law violates their free-speech ability to use the devices to locate and communicate about fallen game, with the judges suggesting the statute seems to regulate conduct rather than speech.

  • January 29, 2025

    Chinese Co. Execs Convicted Over Fentanyl Chemical Imports

    Two former executives of a Chinese chemical company were convicted Wednesday of charges related to a purported scheme to import fentanyl precursor chemicals in order to manufacture large quantities of the drug, as well as laundering funds.

  • January 29, 2025

    Exail Escapes Suit Challenging Award In Aerospace Feud

    A Manhattan federal judge on Wednesday dismissed a case brought by two units of French aerospace firm Safran hoping to nix an arbitral award to Exail Technologies, saying the latter company was right that it had not been given proper notice of the case.

  • January 29, 2025

    Ex-Sen. Menendez Gets 11 Years For Bribes, Abuse Of Power

    A Manhattan federal judge sentenced Robert Menendez to 11 years in prison on Wednesday after a jury convicted the former U.S. senator from New Jersey of engaging in a lengthy, million-dollar course of bribery and corruption, saying his crimes merit "serious consequences."

  • January 29, 2025

    India Asks High Court To Nix $1.3B Telecom Award

    The Republic of India urged the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold a Ninth Circuit order that refused to enforce a $1.3 billion arbitral award against the commercial arm of its space agency, arguing that a lower court had baselessly said that India held control over the division.

  • January 29, 2025

    Trump's Commerce Nominee Backs Maximalist Tariff Approach

    President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the U.S. Department of Commerce voiced support for an expansive use of tariffs Wednesday, repeatedly telling lawmakers that new levies should be imposed to correct the "disrespect" U.S. businesses face in overseas markets.

  • January 29, 2025

    White House Rescinds Trump's Spending Freeze

    The White House on Wednesday rescinded a directive freezing federal funding, saying it wants to end litigation and confusion, but said the move will not end a review of spending to ensure compliance with a series of executive orders by the president.

  • January 29, 2025

    Defense Department's Top Atty To Join Hilton As GC

    The former general counsel of the U.S. Department of Defense, who was the first woman confirmed by the Senate as CIA general counsel, is joining Hilton in March as its top attorney, the global hospitality company has announced.

  • January 28, 2025

    DC Circ. Says Gov't Made A Mess Pulling 9/11 Planners' Pleas

    After four hours of oral arguments on the government's bid to yank back plea deals from a pair of 9/11 co-conspirators that had already been signed, the D.C. Circuit agreed on one thing Tuesday — that this was a problem that need never have landed on their laps.

  • January 28, 2025

    Sig Sauer's Strategy To DQ Experts Gets Knocked Out At 6th Circ.

    Gunmaker Sig Sauer Inc.'s legal strategy to disqualify experts who testified its P320 pistol was defectively designed suffered a blow when the Sixth Circuit ruled, in a split decision, that the witnesses could opine on if the arms manufacture should have utilized a safer build, forecasting potential outcomes in similar appeals before the Third and Tenth circuits.

  • January 28, 2025

    Boeing Supplier Seeks $583K Fees In Texas Biz Records Suit

    A Boeing supplier, Spirit AeroSystems Inc., has asked a federal judge to approve over $583,000 in legal fees after it won a bid to shut down attempts by Texas state officials to examine its business records.

  • January 28, 2025

    Combat Vet Says Army Base Job Triggered PTSD In $25M Suit

    A U.S. Army combat veteran has filed a worker discrimination complaint seeking $25 million from a Washington recycling company, alleging that his former civilian employer mocked his military service and dispatched him to a military base despite knowing it brought back war zone fears and triggered PTSD symptoms.

  • January 28, 2025

    Transgender Troops Challenge Trump's Military Ban

    A group of current and prospective transgender service members sued the Trump administration in D.C. federal court on Tuesday over an executive order barring transgender troops from serving in the military, saying the order is unconstitutional.

  • January 28, 2025

    Trump Wants 'Iron Dome' Missile Defense System For US

    President Donald Trump has ordered the U.S. Department of Defense to create an "Iron Dome" defense system to protect against ballistic missiles and other advanced aerial threats, saying those weapons pose the "most catastrophic threat" to the U.S.

  • January 28, 2025

    Calif. Panel Says Workers Can Be Added To $935K Wage Deal

    A California state appeals court declined to upend an order allowing the reopening of a $935,000 settlement that resolved workers' wage and hour lawsuit against an aerospace company, saying the employer failed to show that unionized employees were correctly exempted from the deal.

  • January 28, 2025

    Trump Bars Trans Service Members, DOD Diversity Initiatives

    President Donald Trump has issued executive orders eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion programs within the military, reinstating service members who refused COVID-19 vaccinations and barring service by openly transgender troops.

Expert Analysis

  • To Report Or Not To Report Others' Export Control Violations

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    A recent Bureau of Industry and Security enforcement policy change grants cooperation credit to those that report violations of the Export Administration Regulations committed by others, but the benefits of doing so must be weighed against significant drawbacks, including the costs of preparing and submitting a report, says Megan Lew at Cravath.

  • 'Minimum Contacts' Issues At Stake In High Court FSIA Case

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    In CC/Devas v. Antrix, the U.S. Supreme Court must decide whether a "minimum contacts" requirement should be implied in the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, with the potential to dramatically change the legislative landscape through the establishment of a new and significant barrier to U.S. suits against foreign states, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

  • State Of The States' AI Legal Ethics Landscape

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    Over the past year, several state bar associations, as well as the American Bar Association, have released guidance on the ethical use of artificial intelligence in legal practice, all of which share overarching themes and some nuanced differences, say Eric Pacifici and Kevin Henderson at SMB Law Group.

  • How BIS' Rule Seeks To Encourage More Voluntary Disclosure

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    Updated incentives, penalties and enforcement resources in the Bureau of Industry and Security's recently published final rule revising the Export Administration Regulations should help companies decide how to implement export control compliance programs and whether to disclose possible violations, say attorneys at Freshfields.

  • 8 Childhood Lessons That Can Help You Be A Better Attorney

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    A new school year is underway, marking a fitting time for attorneys to reflect on some fundamental life lessons from early childhood that offer a framework for problems that no legal textbook can solve, say Chris Gismondi and Chris Campbell at DLA Piper.

  • Opinion

    This Election, We Need To Talk About Court Process

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    In recent decades, the U.S. Supreme Court has markedly transformed judicial processes — from summary judgment standards to notice pleadings — which has, in turn, affected individuals’ substantive rights, and we need to consider how the upcoming presidential election may continue this pattern, says Reuben Guttman at Guttman Buschner.

  • Series

    Playing Diplomacy Makes Us Better Lawyers

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    Similar to the practice of law, the rules of Diplomacy — a strategic board game set in pre-World War I Europe — are neither concise nor without ambiguity, and weekly gameplay with our colleagues has revealed the game's practical applications to our work as attorneys, say Jason Osborn and Ben Bevilacqua at Winston & Strawn.

  • Bid Protest Spotlight: Debriefings, Timeliness, Documentation

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    ​James Tucker at MoFo examines three recent decisions from the Federal Circuit, the U.S. Government Accountability Office and the U.S. Court of Federal Claims concerning an agency's decision not to hold post-award discussions, a timeliness trap in certain Federal Supply Schedule procurements and the importance of providing contemporaneous documentation in price-evaluation protests.

  • Mental Health First Aid: A Brief Primer For Attorneys

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    Amid a growing body of research finding that attorneys face higher rates of mental illness than the general population, firms should consider setting up mental health first aid training programs to help lawyers assess mental health challenges in their colleagues and intervene with compassion, say psychologists Shawn Healy and Tracey Meyers.

  • Series

    Collecting Art Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    The therapeutic aspects of appreciating and collecting art improve my legal practice by enhancing my observation skills, empathy, creativity and cultural awareness, says attorney Michael McCready.

  • Aviation Watch: Boeing Plea Agreement May Not Serve Public

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    The proposed plea agreement between the U.S. Department of Justice and Boeing — the latest outgrowth of the company's 737 Max travails — is opposed by crash victims' families, faces an uncertain fate in court, and may ultimately serve no beneficial purpose, even if approved, says Alan Hoffman, a retired attorney and aviation expert.

  • Secret Service Failures Offer Lessons For Private Sector GCs

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    The Secret Service’s problematic response to two assassination attempts against former President Donald Trump this summer provides a crash course for general counsel on how not to handle crisis communications, says Keith Nahigian at Nahigian Strategies.

  • Managing Sanctions Defense Across Multiple Jurisdictions

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    Companies called before multiple regulators to account for the same conduct in this era of increased global sanctions and import-control enforcement should consider national differences in law and policy, and proactively coordinate their responses in certain key areas, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

  • Litigation Inspiration: Honoring Your Learned Profession

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    About 30,000 people who took the bar exam in July will learn they passed this fall, marking a fitting time for all attorneys to remember that they are members in a specialty club of learned professionals — and the more they can keep this in mind, the more benefits they will see, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.

  • 4 Ways To Prepare For DOD Cyber Certification Rule

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    Given the U.S. Department of Justice's increased scrutiny of contractor compliance with cybersecurity requirements, it is critical that contractors take certain steps now in response to the U.S. Department of Defense's proposed Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification implementation rule, say Townsend Bourne and Lillia Damalouji at Sheppard Mullin.

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