Aerospace & Defense

  • February 20, 2025

    Bell Textron Says Iran Is Refusing To Pay $1.7M Storage Costs

    Helicopter manufacturer Bell Textron Inc. has sued the Islamic Republic of Iran in Texas federal court, claiming it is owed $1.67 million for its continued storage of equipment once owned by the pre-revolutionary Iranian government. 

  • February 20, 2025

    DOJ Official Flags 'Aggressive' FCA Approach Under Trump

    A senior U.S. Department of Justice official said Thursday that the Trump administration's focus on government efficiency will include "aggressively" enforcing the False Claims Act, including a strong focus on FCA enforcement of foreign trade issues amid recently imposed tariffs.

  • February 20, 2025

    RTX Unit Gets $1.5B F-22 Engine Deal Amid Fleet Uncertainty

    RTX unit Pratt & Whitney was given a three-year contract worth up to $1.5 billion with the U.S. Air Force to maintain engines for F-22 fighter jets, while the government mulls when the next generation of jets will be rolled out to replace them.

  • February 20, 2025

    Holland & Knight Adds Two To New Defense Industry Group

    Holland & Knight LLP has added two members to its new group devoted to the defense and national security industry, hiring a former U.S. Senate counsel for the subcommittee overseeing defense spending and a former Department of Defense technical director.

  • February 19, 2025

    Trump Is Defying Order To Unfreeze Foreign Aid, Groups Say

    The Trump administration is "brazenly" defying an order to restore foreign assistance funding, a pair of aid organizations told a Washington, D.C., federal judge Wednesday, asking the court to enforce its temporary restraining order and to sanction the government officials until they comply.

  • February 19, 2025

    Judge Criticizes Gov't For Fighting $7K Navy Back Pay Claim

    A Court of Federal Claims judge has remanded a former U.S. Navy seaman's back pay dispute after admonishing the government for fighting against the "relatively small" $7,000 claim despite the Navy having effectively admitted it was wrong.

  • February 19, 2025

    Space Tech Co. Denied Injunction In Amazon Contract Row

    A Swedish space technology provider did not adequately justify its request for a preliminary injunction against an aerospace parts manufacturer while the companies arbitrate over a supply contract for an Amazon Inc. broadband project, a Connecticut federal judge ruled Wednesday.

  • February 19, 2025

    Cybersecurity Official Rejoins DOD After Contentious Exit

    Former U.S. Department of Defense official Katie Arrington, a key figure in establishing its Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program who previously left the Pentagon after a contentious suspension, announced she has rejoined the DOD as chief information security officer.

  • February 19, 2025

    GAO Says $185M Space Force Contract Was Reasonable

    The Government Accountability Office rejected a Virginia contractor's protest of a $185 million financial services contract for the U.S. Space Force, denying the contractor's claims that the government's price and performance assessments were unreasonable.

  • February 19, 2025

    US Lagging China In Spectrum Use, Experts Tell Senate

    The U.S. is rapidly losing ground to China in developing commercial uses for spectrum because it lacks an aggressive policy to make more government-controlled airwaves available for wireless and satellite communications, experts told the U.S. Senate on Wednesday.

  • February 19, 2025

    Judge Calls Trump's Trans Treatment 'Total Discrimination'

    The D.C. federal judge who on Tuesday called President Donald Trump's executive order purporting to ban transgender people from serving in the military "unadulterated animus" pressed government attorneys once again Wednesday, asking how they could view the administration's numerous actions against trans people as "anything other than total discrimination."

  • February 19, 2025

    Vets Urge 9th Circ. To Bar UCLA From Baseball Lease Row

    A group of disabled military veterans asked the Ninth Circuit to uphold a California federal judge's ruling that it's too late for the University of California system to join a suit over a campus that the veterans say should have been used for housing.

  • February 19, 2025

    Fired Watchdogs 'Must Be Reinstated,' Senate Democrats Say

    Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and 28 other Senate Democrats have filed an amicus brief to support a lawsuit by eight of the inspectors general fired by President Donald Trump.

  • February 19, 2025

    Nadine Menendez Loses Bid To Have Expert Testify On Gifts

    A Manhattan federal judge on Wednesday rejected a request by Nadine Menendez to have a witness testify that receiving gold bars as gifts is normal in her culture, dealing the wife of former U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez a setback ahead of her corruption trial.

  • February 18, 2025

    Health Net Pays $11.25M To Settle Cybersecurity FCA Claims

    Health Net and its parent Centene Corp. have reached an $11.25 million False Claims Act settlement to resolve allegations that the health plan administrator falsely certified compliance with cybersecurity requirements under a U.S. Department of Defense contract.

  • February 18, 2025

    Trump Exec Order Expands Control Over Independent Agencies

    President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday to limit the autonomy of independent agencies such as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Federal Communications Commission by requiring them to submit draft regulations for presidential review.

  • February 18, 2025

    Judge Says 'Animus' Could Doom Trump Transgender Order

    A D.C. federal judge Tuesday hammered government attorneys defending President Donald Trump's executive order ostensibly banning transgender people from serving in the U.S. military, challenging their claims that the order has yet to drive any practical changes when the Defense Department has already "paused" ascensions for trans recruits.

  • February 18, 2025

    Engine Co. Says Plane Crash Appeal Is Matter For NC Panel

    Aviation companies Avco Corp. and its subsidiary Lycoming Engines are urging a North Carolina appeals court to take up their bid seeking immunity from a civil lawsuit filed by families of victims killed in a 2015 plane crash, arguing that allowing a trial to go forward would cause "irreparable harm."

  • February 18, 2025

    CIA Gets Remaining Assange Visit Spying Claim Tossed

    A New York federal judge has dismissed a case accusing the CIA of unlawfully spying on lawyers and journalists who met with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, finding it could not be decided without delving into protected state secrets.

  • February 18, 2025

    DC Midair Collision Family Brings $250M Claims Against Gov't

    The family of a passenger killed in last month's midair collision between an American Airlines regional jet and a military helicopter put the federal government on notice that they're pursuing $250 million in personal injury and wrongful death claims over the accident, attorneys for the family said Tuesday.

  • February 18, 2025

    CIA Officer Firings Under DEI Ban Halted As Judge Mulls TRO

    A Virginia federal judge blocked the CIA and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence on Tuesday from officially firing intelligence officers who have challenged President Donald Trump's executive order directing federal agencies to terminate diversity, equity and inclusion officers.

  • February 18, 2025

    Magnetics Co. Loses Constitutional Grounds Dismissal Bid

    A Kentucky federal judge on Tuesday refused to dismiss certain claims against a magnetics manufacturer and its executives, finding the assertion that technical-data licensing requirements are unconstitutionally vague needs more examination at trial.

  • February 18, 2025

    Feds Strike $29M Deal To Settle FCA Overpayment Claims

    Healthcare system SVCMC Inc. will pay $29 million to resolve allegations it held onto erroneous overpayments for medical services provided to retired military members and their families, the U.S. Department of Justice has said.

  • February 18, 2025

    Ancora Says US Steel CEO May Have Made Insider Trades

    Ancora Holdings Group LLC is claiming that U.S. Steel CEO David Burritt "may have engaged in insider trading" tied to the company's proposed $14.9 billion merger with Japan's Nippon Steel, and the investor said it could bring related litigation, according to documents released Tuesday.

  • February 18, 2025

    State AGs Can't Yet Block Musk From Accessing Agency Data

    A Washington, D.C., federal judge on Tuesday denied a motion from 14 state attorneys general for an emergency order to stop Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency from accessing data systems at seven federal agencies or enacting mass firings of those agencies' employees.

Expert Analysis

  • Anticipating The Maritime Sector's Future Under Trump 2.0

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    With the Republicans taking control of a governance trifecta, the maritime sector should brace for both familiar leadership and new change that could significantly shift shipping and defense priorities, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • 6 Predictions For Cyber Risk And Insurance In 2025

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    This year is likely to bring with it some thorny and expensive cyber challenges, including increased ransomware activity, more data breach class actions and continued efforts to define business interruption loss calculations, say attorneys at Wiley.

  • 7 Ways 2nd Trump Administration May Affect Partner Hiring

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    President-elect Donald Trump's return to the White House will likely have a number of downstream effects on partner hiring in the legal industry, from accelerated hiring timelines to increased vetting of prospective employees, say recruiters at Macrae.

  • How Trump 2.0 May Change Business In Latin America

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    Companies in Latin America should expect to face more trade restrictions, tighter economic sanctions and enhanced corruption risks, as the incoming administration shifts focus to certain non-U.S. actors, most notably China, says Matteson Ellis at Miller & Chevalier.

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Rulings On Custodian Selection

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    Several recent rulings make clear that the proportionality of additional proposed custodians will depend on whether the custodians have unique relevant documents, and producing parties should consider whether information already in the record will show that they have relevant documents that otherwise might not be produced, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • The OIG Report: Preparing For Oversight In 2025

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    Across sectors, Office of Inspector General work plans and challenge reports for 2025 provide a trove of information on the issues and industries that will likely be the focus of government oversight in the year to come, says Diana Shaw at Wiley.

  • Series

    Exercising On My Peloton Bike Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    While I originally came to the Peloton bike for exercise, one cycling instructor’s teachings have come to serve as a road map for practicing law thoughtfully and mindfully, which has opened opportunities for growth and change in my career, says Andrea Kirshenbaum at Littler.

  • Opinion

    Aviation Watch: How Court Nixed Boeing Plea Deal Over DEI

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    A Texas federal court's rejection of the plea agreement between the U.S. Department of Justice and Boeing over the 737 Max aircraft gratuitously injected the court's views on diversity, equity and inclusion into a case that shouldn't have been a criminal matter in the first place, says Alan Hoffman, a retired attorney and aviation expert.

  • How To Manage During A Trade Dispute With USMCA Partners

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    Companies can try to minimize the potential impacts of future tariffs on Mexican and Canadian goods, and uncertainty about future trade relations, by evaluating supply chains, considering how they may be modified, and engaging with the new administration over exemptions and the upcoming review of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • What FARA Enforcement In 2024 Reveals For The Year Ahead

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    A number of developments, from indictments to legislation, shaped the Foreign Agents Registration Act enforcement landscape last year, and following the U.S. Department of Justice's recently released long-awaited proposed amendments to the law, 2025 shows no signs of slowing down, says Tessa Capeloto at Wiley.

  • How New Fraud Enforcement Tool Affects Gov't Contractors

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    Government contractors will likely face greater scrutiny under the recently enacted Administrative False Claims Act, which broadens federal agencies' authority to pursue low-dollar fraud claims, but contractors may also find the act makes settlement of such claims easier to negotiate, say attorneys at Wiley.

  • Exploring Venue Strategy For Trump-Era Regulatory Litigation

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    Litigation will likely play a prominent role in shaping policy outcomes during the second Trump administration, and stakeholders have several tools at their disposal to steer regulatory litigation toward more favorable venues, say attorneys at Covington.

  • Series

    Playing Esports Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Competing in a global esports tournament at Wimbledon last year not only fulfilled my childhood dream, but also sharpened skills that are essential to my day job, including strategic thinking, confidence and networking, says AJ Schuyler at Jackson Lewis.

  • An Associate's Guide To Career Development In 2025

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    As the new year begins, associates at all levels should consider establishing career metrics, fostering key relationships and employing other specific strategies to help move through the complexities of the legal profession with confidence and emerge as trailblazers, say EJ Stern and Amanda George at Fractional Law Firm.

  • Contract Disputes Recap: Adjustments, Preclusion, Waivers

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    Ken Kanzawa at Seyfarth examines three recent decisions from the Civilian Board of Contract Appeals, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims and the Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals that examine distinctions between requests for equitable adjustments and claims, forum selection and res judicata, and the waiver of penalties for expressly unallowable costs.

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