Aerospace & Defense

  • February 20, 2024

    GAO Says Army Was Fair In Awarding $169M IT Upgrade Deal

    The U.S. Government Accountability Office has denied a Maryland company's protest of a $169 million information technology infrastructure modernization deal for the U.S. Army, rejecting its claim that the Army assessed a competitor's strengths while overlooking the company's despite them having similarities.

  • February 20, 2024

    Amentum Can Claim Some COVID Leave Costs From Air Force

    The Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals has ruled that Amentum Services can partially claim increased costs under an Air Force contract based on California's COVID-19 sick leave laws but that sovereign immunity bars claims based on a military quarantine requirement.

  • February 20, 2024

    GOP, Democratic Reps. Team Up To Decry Punted FISA Vote

    The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act's controversial Section 702, which gives the government a backdoor to intercept American communications without a warrant, is set to expire soon, and a bipartisan group of lawmakers says it's time they be allowed to vote on a version of the reauthorization that would add privacy protections.

  • February 20, 2024

    Justices Deny 9/11 Widows' Challenge to Damage Distribution

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to revive a lawsuit from the widows of two 9/11 victims alleging a district court improperly allowed all immediate relatives to claim wrongful death damages despite state laws allowing relief only to heirs.

  • February 20, 2024

    Akin Hires Top BIS Commerce Department Counsel In DC

    Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP has hired the former U.S. Department of Commerce's chief counsel for the Bureau of Industry and Security, who has joined the firm as a partner in Washington, D.C., the firm announced Tuesday.

  • February 20, 2024

    Fox Rothschild AI Chief Talks 'Terrifying' Deepfakes, Biased AI

    Mark McCreary, the chief artificial intelligence and information security officer at Fox Rothschild, leads his firm's internal AI strategy and provides counsel to other law firms trying to bushwhack their path through the often murky AI legal landscape, rife with hallucinated case law citations and disturbingly real deepfakes.

  • February 20, 2024

    5th Circ. Pauses Transfer Order In SpaceX, NLRB Dispute

    The Fifth Circuit pressed pause on a Texas district court's order to transfer SpaceX's suit over the constitutionality of the NLRB's structure to California, staying the lower court's decision while the appeals court considers the company's petition for writ of mandamus.

  • February 20, 2024

    Justices Decline Bid For Unanimous Court-Martial Verdicts

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to take up a former U.S. Air Force sergeant's petition seeking to make court-martial rulings unanimous, leaving in place his divided guilty verdict on two counts of attempted sexual abuse.

  • February 20, 2024

    Navalny's Death Pushes Biden To Ramp Up Russian Sanctions

    The White House said Tuesday that it will introduce new sanctions on Russia later this week in response to Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny's death in custody, saying Russian President Vladimir Putin was ultimately responsible.

  • February 20, 2024

    Ransomware Group LockBit Hit By Coordinated Crackdown

    Two suspects linked to LockBit have been arrested and dozens of servers taken down as part of a global operation to disrupt the Russia-based ransomware group's activities, law enforcement agencies said Tuesday.

  • February 20, 2024

    Justices Pass On Bid To Hold UK Co. Liable For Cessna Crash

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to hear a bid seeking to hold an English aerospace firm liable for a Cessna crash that killed three people, passing on an opportunity to resolve what the petitioners called a circuit split or give credence to a "vociferous dissent" within the Ninth Circuit's published opinion.

  • February 20, 2024

    Extraditing Assange For Political Offenses Breaches Int'l Law

    Extraditing Julian Assange to face espionage charges in the U.S. would be a fundamental breach of international laws that protect "pure political offenses," lawyers for the WikiLeaks founder argued at his last-ditch appeal in London on Tuesday.

  • February 19, 2024

    Assange Poised To Make Final Bid To Halt Extradition To US

    Julian Assange will make what could be his final legal challenge on Tuesday in his long-running battle to avoid being sent to the U.S. on espionage charges arising from the publication of classified documents more than a decade ago.

  • February 16, 2024

    Nat'l Security Bar Kills Ex-Raytheon Worker's Retaliation Suit

    The Fifth Circuit on Thursday refused to revive an engineer's claims that he was fired by defense contractor Raytheon for raising concerns about a naval system, saying that reviewing the case would implicate the Pentagon's protected decision to revoke his security clearance.

  • February 16, 2024

    You Want Judge Reyna To Have Coffee With Your Brief

    U.S. Circuit Judge Jimmie V. Reyna on Friday told intellectual property attorneys that the best way to establish credibility at the Federal Circuit is through a well-written brief, saying otherwise they put him in a bad position and deprive him of coffee.

  • February 16, 2024

    Judge Wary Of Boeing's Bid To Duck Birth Defect Suit

    A Washington state judge pressed Boeing on Friday to explain why it should get a "free pass" in a lawsuit over birth defects allegedly caused by factory workers' chemical exposure, questioning the aerospace giant's argument that it didn't have a duty to workers' future children based on foreseeable harm.

  • February 16, 2024

    Ex-FBI Field Boss Gets 28 Months For Foreign Payouts

    A former FBI field office supervisor was sentenced Friday to 28 months in prison for failing to disclose a $225,000 payment that he received from a former Albanian intelligence official while overseeing counterintelligence matters at the bureau.

  • February 16, 2024

    House Lawmakers Unveil $66.3B Military, Border Bill

    A bipartisan group of U.S. House of Representatives lawmakers introduced legislation on Friday that would provide $66.32 billion to support Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, as well as enact border reforms.

  • February 16, 2024

    Camp Lejeune Plaintiffs Seek Appeal Of Jury Trial Denial

    Two plaintiffs suing the federal government over water contamination at Camp Lejeune are asking a North Carolina federal court to allow them to appeal a judges' decision striking their bid for a jury trial, saying the issue is a novel question of law that should be answered sooner rather than later.

  • February 15, 2024

    Ex-ArentFox Client Tentatively Denied Conflict Case Discovery

    A California state judge tentatively ruled on Thursday that government contractor Peraton Corp. cannot get discovery for ArentFox Schiff's work for a business rival around the time it represented Peraton, saying since the discovery bid relates to an arbitration provision in Peraton's retainer, what happened after it was inked is irrelevant.

  • February 15, 2024

    FCC Wants Licensing Revamp To Help Hatch Space Industries

    The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday proposed ways to streamline federal licensing needed to support an array of services in space, including manufacturing and parts assembly.

  • February 15, 2024

    SpaceX Heads To Texas After Musk's Tesla Pay Package Axed

    Elon Musk announced Wednesday that he is taking SpaceX's business incorporation from Delaware to Texas, after Delaware's chancellor last month struck down his proposed $55 billion Tesla pay package.

  • February 15, 2024

    House Committee Blasts VA, Oracle For E-Record Failures

    Lawmakers on Thursday rebuked the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Oracle Corp. for inadequate fixes to electronic medical records systems that they say continue to threaten the health and safety of thousands of veterans, who are not being advised of the risk.

  • February 15, 2024

    SpaceX Suit Over NLRB Structure Shipped To Calif.

    A Texas federal judge on Thursday granted the National Labor Relations Board's request to transfer SpaceX's lawsuit claiming the agency is unconstitutionally structured to California, saying the actions the company said allowed it to file in Texas were "incidental to the principal events occurring elsewhere."

  • February 15, 2024

    Bogus NSA Worker To Pay SEC $2.2M In Crypto Scam Case

    An alleged crypto fraudster who told would-be investors he was a former Marine and a onetime employee of the National Security Agency will pay over $2.2 million to end U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission claims he faces in Florida federal court.

Expert Analysis

  • Opinion

    3 Ways Justices' Disclosure Defenses Miss The Ethical Point

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    The rule-bound interpretation of financial disclosures preferred by U.S. Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas — demonstrated in their respective statements defending their failure to disclose gifts from billionaires — show that they do not understand the ethical aspects of the public's concern, says Jim Moliterno at the Washington and Lee University School of Law.

  • FAA Drone Guidance Clears Air On Scope Of Authority

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    The Federal Aviation Administration's new guidance outlines robust federal preemption in aviation safety and airspace efficiency, including drones, while delineating roles for state and local governments, and this fact sheet will likely be a helpful resource for state and local lawmakers, industry, courts and others, say attorneys at Wiley.

  • How US Investment Regulation May Shift Under Biden Order

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    Attorneys at Ropes & Gray explore potential prohibitions, notification requirements and covered transactions under President Joe Biden's recent executive order, which marks an unprecedented expansion of U.S. regulation of investment activity.

  • 5 Compliance Mistakes To Avoid When Entering A New Market

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    As many companies move their value chains out of China or expand to new markets for other reasons, they should beware several common compliance pitfalls — such as insufficient due diligence and one-size-fits-all training — to avoid reputational, financial and legal damage, says Alexandra Wrage at TRACE International.

  • Where Biden's Outbound Investment Effort May Be Headed

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    The president’s recent executive order on outbound investment describes prohibited transactions and a notification process, but the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s actions suggest upcoming regulations will leave investors with the risky determination of whether investments are prohibited or require notification, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Caregiver Flexibility Is Crucial For Atty Engagement, Retention

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    As the battle for top talent continues post-pandemic, many firms are attempting to attract employees with progressive hybrid working environments — and supporting caregivers before, during and after an extended leave is a critically important way to retain top talent, says Manar Morales at The Diversity & Flexibility Alliance.

  • Strike Force Actions Underscore Foreign Risks For Tech Cos.

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    As recent prosecutions demonstrate, a multiagency strike force is ramping up enforcement of trade secret theft and export control violations, and companies will need to be proactive in protecting their sensitive technologies from foreign adversaries, say attorneys at McGuireWoods.

  • Questions To Ask Before Drafting Proposals With AI

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    Before federal contractors adopt AI tools to simplify their proposal writing, they should ask questions about how a given AI tool’s model was developed, and consider the procedures they will need to avoid cookie-cutter submissions and ensure accuracy, privacy and security, among other practical and legal considerations, say attorneys at Wiley.

  • Even Without US, Deep-Sea Mining Rules Likely To Prevail

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    While the U.S. was absent from the International Seabed Authority's recent meeting in Jamaica, and has not ratified the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, it seems increasingly clear that the ISA's forthcoming deep-sea mining regime will become a global framework of reference, say Louise Woods and Elena Guillet at V&E.

  • In-Office Engagement Is Essential To Associate Development

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    As law firms develop return-to-office policies that allow hybrid work arrangements, they should incorporate the specific types of in-person engagement likely to help associates develop attributes common among successful firm leaders, says Liisa Thomas at Sheppard Mullin.

  • SEC Focus On Perks Offers Insights On Cooperation

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    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recent settlement with Stanley Black & Decker is the latest example of the SEC's continued focus on executive perquisites and highlights what type of cooperation may be required to avoid a civil money penalty, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Trends Emerge In High Court's Criminal Law Decisions

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    In its 2022-2023 term, the U.S. Supreme Court issued nine merits decisions in criminal cases covering a wide range of issues, and while each decision is independently important, when viewed together, key trends and takeaways appear that will affect defendants moving forward, says Kenneth Notter at MoloLamken.

  • Terror Funding Suit Could Affect Inherited Jurisdiction In NY

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    Depending on how New York’s highest court answers two questions certified from the Second Circuit in a case litigating companies’ liability for terrorist attacks, foreign companies with no relevant New York contacts may be subject to suit in state courts by virtue of an asset purchase, say attorneys at Norton Rose.

  • Perspectives

    A Judge's Pitch To Revive The Jury Trial

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    Ohio state Judge Pierre Bergeron explains how the decline of the jury trial threatens public confidence in the judiciary and even democracy as a whole, and he offers ideas to restore this sacred right.

  • How To Recognize And Recover From Lawyer Loneliness

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    Law can be one of the loneliest professions, but there are practical steps that attorneys and their managers can take to help themselves and their peers improve their emotional health, strengthen their social bonds and protect their performance, says psychologist and attorney Traci Cipriano.

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