Aerospace & Defense

  • October 18, 2024

    Insurer Blames Truckers For $6.7M Jet Engine Loss

    An insurer who paid more than $6.7 million to a commercial airline parts manufacturer it insured after a jet engine was damaged in a truck crash is pursuing several contractors in Connecticut federal court, blaming them for negligently transporting the engine.

  • October 18, 2024

    Blank Rome Attys Want Win In Corporate Client Ex-Atty Suit

    A trio of Blank Rome LLP attorneys have asked a federal judge in Pennsylvania for an early win in a lawsuit from another attorney alleging they improperly helped her former client retaliate against her after she switched to the plaintiffs bar.

  • October 18, 2024

    Redactable Nabs $1.9M Contract Increase With Air Force

    Redactable Inc., whose software tool uses artificial intelligence to detect personally identifiable information in documents and redact it, announced Thursday a $1.9 million contract increase with the U.S. Air Force and its innovation arm AFWERX, two current customers with the New York-based startup.

  • October 17, 2024

    Indian Official Charged In Plot To Assassinate NYC Atty

    New York federal prosecutors on Thursday unveiled murder-for-hire and money laundering charges against an Indian foreign intelligence official they claim orchestrated a plot to assassinate a New York City attorney connected to a Punjab political revolution.

  • October 17, 2024

    US Sanctions Chinese Cos. For Work On Russian Drones

    The U.S. Department of the Treasury on Thursday imposed fresh sanctions on three entities, including two from China, for helping develop long-range Garpiya attack drones used by Russia in its deadly war against Ukraine.

  • October 17, 2024

    Treasury Unit Says Booze Maker Violated N. Korea Sanctions

    The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control said Thursday that it has reached an $860,000 settlement with a Vietnam-based alcoholic beverage company over its alleged role in allowing U.S. financial institutions to process $1.1 million in payments to North Korea, violating sanctions regulations.

  • October 17, 2024

    Air Force Owes Contractor COVID-19 Quarantine Costs

    The U.S. Air Force must bear the costs a contractor incurred complying with a two-week COVID-19 quarantine requirement, the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals has ruled, faulting the government for refusing to establish all the elements of an asserted defense.

  • October 17, 2024

    GAO Finds VA Rightly Canceled Too-High 'Wander System' Bid

    The U.S. Government Accountability Office backed a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs decision rejecting a lone bid that came in at more than double the agency's budget for a wander management system at a medical center in Fresno, California.

  • October 17, 2024

    Army Can't Ignore Inconsistencies On $280M Logistics Orders

    The U.S. Government Accountability Office has backed a trio of protests over roughly $280 million in task orders issued under a massive logistics support contract, saying the U.S. Army improperly ignored inconsistencies in the awardee's approach to small business participation requirements.

  • October 17, 2024

    Contractor Tells Fed. Circ. Navy Improperly Canceled Deal

    A contractor urged the Federal Circuit to abandon a lower court finding that the U.S. Navy reasonably canceled an agreement for it to provide engineering services for a Florida naval air station, saying in a filing Wednesday that a termination memorandum the government submitted to the court appears to be "fraudulent."

  • October 17, 2024

    Unlimited Budget Won't Fix Secret Service Flaws, Panel Says

    If Congress gave the U.S. Secret Service a carte blanche budget, the breakdowns that led to the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump in July would have likely still occurred, but additional funding could help allay its "do more with less" mindset, an independent panel said in a report published on Thursday.

  • October 16, 2024

    Airline Owner Can't Force Cravath To Give Docs, Court Says

    Cravath Swaine & Moore LLP doesn't have to turn over documents used in the prosecution of an airline owner accused in a scheme to defraud Polar Air Cargo Worldwide of millions of dollars, a New York federal judge ruled Wednesday, saying the defendant hasn't shown the firm was part of the prosecution.

  • October 16, 2024

    Justices Torn On Interpretation Of Veterans Benefits Law

    U.S. Supreme Court justices questioned Wednesday whether two veterans expected more than legally required from a lower court that only granted limited review of the denial of their disability benefits claims, while challenging the government's denial in equal measure.

  • October 16, 2024

    Sudanese Men Charged With Hacking Cedars-Sinai, Microsoft

    California federal prosecutors announced Wednesday that two Sudanese brothers have been charged with operating a prolific hacking group that orchestrated tens of thousands of politically motivated cyberattacks against worldwide government agencies, Los Angeles' Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and companies including Microsoft, PayPal, Google and Netflix.

  • October 16, 2024

    SpaceX Says Calif. Board Taking Disdain Of Musk Out On It

    SpaceX hit the California Coastal Commission with a federal lawsuit claiming its board members are opposing the company's bid to launch more rockets from a military base in Santa Barbara County due to "naked political discrimination" against it and its outspoken billionaire CEO Elon Musk.

  • October 16, 2024

    9th Circ. Won't Rethink Reviving Airline Military Bias Suit

    The Ninth Circuit on Wednesday rejected Alaska Airlines' bid for the court to reconsider its August opinion reinstating a class action accusing the airline of illegally denying accrued vacation and sick time to pilots on military assignments.

  • October 16, 2024

    'Fat Leonard' Faces 11 Years For Navy Bribery Scheme

    Federal prosecutors are seeking more than 11 years in prison for Leonard Francis, the Malaysian defense contractor and ex-fugitive known as "Fat Leonard" who led a sprawling bribery and corruption scheme that allegedly caused over $20 million in losses for the U.S. Navy.

  • October 16, 2024

    2 SDNY Terror Finance Cases Against Binance Stay Separate

    Two suits claiming Binance unlawfully fostered terrorist activity, filed in the wake of the cryptocurrency platform's $4.3 billion settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice, will proceed separately in the Southern District of New York, a Manhattan federal judge said Wednesday.

  • October 16, 2024

    RTX To Pay $1B For Qatari Bribes And Defrauding US Gov't

    RTX Corp. and its Raytheon subsidiary have agreed to pay approximately $1 billion and enter into two separate deferred prosecution agreements in connection with a bribery scheme to secure Qatari military contracts, as well as separate ploys to defraud the U.S. government in deals for Patriot missile and radar systems.

  • October 15, 2024

    Boeing Judge Wants DEI Monitor Pick Info Before Plea Ruling

    The Texas federal judge overseeing prosecutors' criminal case against The Boeing Co. on Tuesday said he needs more information on a provision of the proposed plea deal regarding how the U.S. Department of Justice would select an independent monitor in compliance with the agency's diversity and inclusion policies.

  • October 15, 2024

    New Cybersecurity Rules Threaten Defense Industrial Base

    The Pentagon's stringent new cybersecurity rule for its contractors threatens to drive away companies that may struggle with the added costs of compliance, while exacerbating concerns about an already-shrinking defense industrial base.

  • October 15, 2024

    Kirkland-Led Boeing Seeks Up To $35B Amid Labor Strike

    Boeing notified regulators on Tuesday of plans to raise up to $35 billion through securities offerings and a credit agreement, guided by Kirkland & Ellis LLP, as the aviation giant seeks access to cash amid a prolonged strike and production cuts.

  • October 15, 2024

    DOD Upgrades Vets' Status After 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' Review

    More than 800 LGBTQ+ veterans separated administratively from the military under the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy have upgraded to an honorable discharge, the Pentagon announced on Tuesday.

  • October 15, 2024

    US Ups Energy Sanctions On Iran After Israel Missile Attack

    U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan has unveiled expanded sanctions against the Islamic Republic of Iran, including "new and significant measures to more effectively target Iran's energy trade," following its Oct. 1 missile attack on Israel.

  • October 15, 2024

    Aerospace Firm Must Hand Over Bank Accounts To Buyer

    A Colorado state judge entered an emergency order Monday forcing a Colorado aerospace company that sold its assets to California-based Interconnect Solutions Co. for $15 million to turn over its business accounts to ISC, which said the accounts are needed to perform work for customer Lockheed Martin.

Expert Analysis

  • Opinion

    It's Time For A BigLaw Associates' Union

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    As BigLaw faces a steady stream of criticism about its employment policies and practices, an associates union could effect real change — and it could start with law students organizing around opposition to recent recruiting trends, says Tara Rhoades at The Sanity Plea.

  • Why DOJ's Whistleblower Program May Have Limited Impact

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    The U.S. Department of Justice’s new whistleblower pilot program aims to incentivize individuals to report corporate misconduct, but the program's effectiveness may be undercut by its differences from other federal agencies’ whistleblower programs and its interplay with other DOJ policies, say attorneys at Milbank.

  • How Justices Upended The Administrative Procedure Act

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    In its recent Loper Bright, Corner Post and Jarkesy decisions, the U.S. Supreme Court fundamentally changed the Administrative Procedure Act in ways that undermine Congress and the executive branch, shift power to the judiciary, curtail public and business input, and create great uncertainty, say Alene Taber and Beth Hummer at Hanson Bridgett.

  • FTC Drives Crackdown On Connected Cars' Data Privacy Risk

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    After the Federal Trade Commission's warning to automakers about data privacy, which continues to emerge as a national concern, automakers must carefully examine their data collection, use and retention practices, say Catherine Castaldo and Michael Rubayo at Reed Smith.

  • Lessons From Recent SEC Cyber Enforcement Actions

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    The recent guidance by the SEC's Division of Corporation Finance is helpful to any company facing a cybersecurity threat, but just as instructive are the warnings raised by the SEC's recent enforcement actions against SolarWinds, R.R. Donnelley and Intercontinental Exchange, say attorneys at O'Melveny.

  • How Cos. With Chinese Suppliers Should Prep For Biotech Bill

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    A proposed bill to prohibit government-affiliated life sciences companies from contracting with Chinese biotech companies of concern may necessitate switching to other sources for research and supplies, meaning they should begin evaluating supply chains now due to the long lead times of drug development, say John O'Loughlin and Christina Carone at Weil Gotshal.

  • Mirror, Mirror On The Wall, Is My Counterclaim Bound To Fall?

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    A Pennsylvania federal court’s recent dismissal of the defendants’ counterclaims in Morgan v. Noss should remind attorneys to avoid the temptation to repackage a claim’s facts and law into a mirror-image counterclaim, as this approach will often result in a waste of time and resources, says Matthew Selmasska at Kaufman Dolowich.

  • DOJ Paths To Limit FARA Fallout From Wynn's DC Circ. Win

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    After the D.C. Circuit’s recent Attorney General v. Wynn ruling, holding that the government cannot compel retroactive registration under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, the U.S. Department of Justice has a few options to limit the decision’s impact on enforcement, say attorneys at MoFo.

  • Series

    Playing Dungeons & Dragons Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Playing Dungeons & Dragons – a tabletop role-playing game – helped pave the way for my legal career by providing me with foundational skills such as persuasion and team building, says Derrick Carman at Robins Kaplan.

  • Bid Protest Spotlight: Misplaced Info, Trade-Offs, Proteges

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    James Tucker at MoFo examines three recent decisions concerning the consequences of providing solicited information in the wrong section of a bid proposal, the limits of agency discretion in technical merit, best-value trade-off evaluations, and the weight of the experience and capabilities of small businesses in mentor-protégé joint venture qualification.

  • Unpacking Executive Privilege, Contempt In Recent Cases

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    The U.S. House of Representatives’ recent move to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress is the latest example in a growing trend of executive privilege disputes, and serves as a warning to private citizens and corporate leaders who are in communication with the president, says Kristina Moore at Womble Bond.

  • 3 Leadership Practices For A More Supportive Firm Culture

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    Traditional leadership styles frequently amplify the inherent pressures of legal work, but a few simple, time-neutral strategies can strengthen the skills and confidence of employees and foster a more collaborative culture, while supporting individual growth and contribution to organizational goals, says Benjamin Grimes at BKG Leadership.

  • The OIG Report: DOJ's Own Whistleblower Program Has Holes

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    A recent Office of the Inspector General memo found that the U.S. Department of Justice’s whistleblower program failed to protect federal employees whose security clearances were allegedly suspended in retaliation — a serious cause for concern that could have a potential chilling effect on would-be whistleblowers, says Diana Shaw at Wiley.

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Rulings On Hyperlinked Documents

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    Recent rulings show that counsel should engage in early discussions with clients regarding the potential of hyperlinked documents in electronically stored information, which will allow for more deliberate negotiation of any agreements regarding the scope of discovery, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Loper Bright Limits Federal Agencies' Ability To Alter Course

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision to dismantle Chevron deference also effectively overrules its 2005 decision in National Cable & Telecommunications Association v. Brand X, greatly diminishing agencies' ability to change regulatory course from one administration to the next, says Steven Gordon at Holland & Knight.

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