Aerospace & Defense

  • October 23, 2025

    Judge Axes Va. Homeowner's Suit Over Marine Base Security

    A U.S. Court of Federal Claims judge on Thursday tossed a Quantico, Virginia, homeowner's takings suit against the federal government, which was accused of taking her property without just compensation by having military base-related restrictions that impeded her attempts to use the property as a short-term rental.

  • October 23, 2025

    4th Circ. Pushed To Retain Block On Chemours PFAS Dumping

    A pair of environmental groups is urging the Fourth Circuit to leave in place an injunction blocking The Chemours Co. FC LLC from continuing to discharge so-called "forever chemicals" into the Ohio River, saying the company is using strawman arguments to get its way.

  • October 23, 2025

    1st Circ. Affirms Navy Officer Conviction In Afghan Visa Scam

    The First Circuit affirmed a New Hampshire jury's conviction of a U.S. Navy Reserve officer who participated in a scheme to provide letters of recommendation for Afghans seeking visas to enter the United States in exchange for money.

  • October 23, 2025

    Senate Clears Bill For FCC List Of Foreign Authorizations

    The U.S. Senate Thursday passed a bill requiring the Federal Communications Commission to publish a list of companies with ties to certain foreign countries that hold FCC authorizations.

  • October 23, 2025

    Shipbuilders' Discovery Demands Go Too Far, Engineer Says

    One of the naval engineers suing the nation's largest military shipbuilders over an alleged no-poach agreement said she's already identified 20 witnesses and produced more than 3,000 pages of documents in discovery, but the companies are still asking for attorney work product in their latest demands.

  • October 23, 2025

    5th Circ. Revives Religious Bias Suit Over DOD Vaccine Policy

    The Fifth Circuit breathed new life into a proposed class action claiming the U.S. Department of Defense unlawfully slow-walked civilian employees' requests for religious exemptions from its COVID-19 vaccination directive, saying the mandate getting rescinded didn't nullify the lawsuit.

  • October 22, 2025

    Coast Guard Must Face Conception Fire Suit, 9th Circ. Told

    The families of 34 people who died in a blaze aboard the recreational dive boat MV Conception urged the Ninth Circuit on Wednesday to revive their suit accusing the U.S. Coast Guard of inspection failures, saying the lower court wrongly declared the agency immune from their claims.

  • October 22, 2025

    ISIS Victims Ask 9th Circ. To Revive YouTube Negligence Suit

    Victims of the 2015 Paris terrorist attack urged the Ninth Circuit on Wednesday to revive negligence claims against YouTube over the rise of ISIS, arguing the district court erroneously found that federal courts lack jurisdiction over the winding case, which has spanned nine years and a trip to the U.S. Supreme Court.

  • October 22, 2025

    Trump's Takeover Of Calif. Guard 'Unreviewable,' 9th Circ. Told

    A U.S. Department of Justice attorney told the Ninth Circuit on Wednesday that President Donald Trump's federalization of the California National Guard in June is "unreviewable" by the courts, while an attorney for California said the president's order is reviewable and far exceeded his statutory authority.

  • October 22, 2025

    US Hits Russian Oil Cos. With Sanctions Over Ukraine War

    The U.S. Department of the Treasury imposed sanctions targeting Russia's two biggest oil companies Wednesday, citing Russian President Vladimir Putin's "lack of serious commitment to a peace process" to end the war in Ukraine.

  • October 22, 2025

    Ill. Judge Extends National Guard Block For Justices' Review

    An Illinois federal judge's order temporarily blocking the deployment of National Guard troops to the state will remain in place indefinitely as the U.S. Supreme Court considers whether President Donald Trump has the authority to send in hundreds of federalized troops and whether the justices are entitled to review his decision at all.

  • October 22, 2025

    Judge Axes Ga. Transportation Contractor's VA Bid Protest

    A federal judge has granted the U.S. government's bid for judgment in a Georgia company's breach of contract suit, ruling that the Department of Veterans Affairs awarded a transportation services contract to a separate entity that fraudulently secured the award.

  • October 22, 2025

    Unions Pursue More Protection For Federal Workers In Shutdown

    Eight unions asked a California federal judge to step up the level of protection she provided to thousands of federal workers' jobs during the government shutdown, urging her to expand the number of jobs she's protecting and turn a temporary restraining order into a preliminary injunction.

  • October 22, 2025

    Amazon Gets Military Leave Suit Thrown Out, For Now

    A New York federal judge walked back an August ruling that certified a thousands-strong class of Amazon workers who alleged they were shorted on pay for stints of military leave, agreeing with the retail giant that the suit should be dismissed.  

  • October 21, 2025

    Senate Panel Clears Aviation Safety Bill After DCA Collision

    A Senate committee advanced legislation Tuesday that would mandate aircraft-tracking technology in all aircraft, alongside fresh audits of Federal Aviation Administration and military procedures, a response to January's deadly midair collision between a U.S. Army helicopter and an American Airlines regional jet near Washington, D.C.

  • October 21, 2025

    Afghan Allies Sue After Families Are Barred From Entry Into US

    Multiple Afghans who fought for the United States claim a Trump administration proclamation has kept their families in Afghanistan, saying in a Tuesday complaint that the administration's blanket denial of asylum for their families puts them at risk of persecution.

  • October 21, 2025

    Whistleblowers Say They've Shown Fluor Defrauded Army

    Former Fluor Corp. employees asked a South Carolina federal judge Tuesday to rule in favor of their theories that the company fraudulently secured bonus awards and property management system approvals for a massive contract to support U.S. military bases in Afghanistan.

  • October 21, 2025

    Trump Inks Rare Earths, Critical Minerals Deal With Australia

    U.S. President Donald Trump and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese inked a critical minerals and rare earths agreement under which the White House said the countries plan to invest more than $3 billion combined in critical minerals projects over the next six months. 

  • October 21, 2025

    Mich. Judge Halts Challenge To Air Nat'l Guard Training Plans

    A Michigan federal judge halted litigation over a proposed expansion of Air National Guard training flights in Michigan until Congress has restored appropriations to the U.S. Department of Justice.

  • October 20, 2025

    SpaceX Settles Cards Against Humanity's $15M Trespass Suit

    SpaceX and Cards Against Humanity have settled the Chicago-based game company's $15 million suit accusing SpaceX of trespassing and dumping trash and machinery on a once-pristine Texas property that Cards Against Humanity purchased to block President Donald Trump's U.S.-Mexico border wall.

  • October 20, 2025

    States, DC Fight Feds' Bid To Cut Billions In OMB Grant Case

    Twenty-three states and the District of Columbia have told a Massachusetts federal judge to hold onto their case challenging the Trump administration's use of "a single subclause" buried in a U.S. Office of Management and Budget regulation to shut off billions in federal grants. 

  • October 20, 2025

    Judge Blocks DOD Schools' Gender, Sex And Race Book Ban

    A Virginia federal judge said Monday that the U.S. Department of Defense school system must restore hundreds of books and lessons on race and gender that were pulled under the Trump administration, finding the removals likely violated students' First Amendment rights.

  • October 20, 2025

    9th Circ. Judges Doubt DOD's 'Broad' Transgender Troop Ban

    Two Ninth Circuit judges hearing an appeal Monday expressed doubts about the Trump administration's bid to vacate a preliminary injunction blocking the U.S. Department of Defense from treating gender dysphoria as a disqualifying medical condition, saying the "broad" new policy sweeps in undiagnosed individuals.

  • October 20, 2025

    Ill. Asks Justices To Keep National Guard Out Of Chicago

    Illinois and the city of Chicago implored the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to leave in place a federal judge's order temporarily barring the Trump administration from sending National Guard troops to the Windy City, arguing the evidence on the ground comes nowhere close to supporting the president's deployment order.

  • October 20, 2025

    Trump Sending Guard To Portland Likely Legal, 9th Circ. Says

    The Ninth Circuit recognized in a split panel decision on Monday that President Donald Trump likely acted within his statutory power when he called for Oregon National Guard members to be sent to Portland, granting the federal government's bid to stay a lower court order blocking the deployment as an appeal plays out.

Expert Analysis

  • Series

    Writing Novels Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Writing my debut novel taught me to appreciate the value of critique and to never give up, no matter how long or tedious the journey, providing me with valuable skills that I now emphasize in my practice, says Daniel Buzzetta at BakerHostetler.

  • SDNY OpenAI Order Clarifies Preservation Standards For AI

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    The Southern District of New York’s recent order in the OpenAI copyright infringement litigation, denying discovery of The New York Times' artificial intelligence technology use, clarifies that traditional preservation benchmarks apply to AI content, relieving organizations from using a “keep everything” approach, says Philip Favro at Favro Law.

  • Cybersecurity Rule For DOD Contractors Creates New Risks

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    A rule locking in the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification system for defense contractors increases False Claims Act and criminal enforcement risks by narrowing a key exemption and mandating affirmations of past compliance, which may discourage new companies from entering the defense contracting market, say attorneys at Haynes Boone.

  • What EPA's Continued Defense Of PFAS Rule Means For Cos.

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    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's recent decision to continue defending a Biden-era rule designating two per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances as Superfund hazards may provide the EPA with significant authority over national PFAS cleanup policy — and spur further litigation by both government and private parties, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • How Calif. Law Cracks Down On Algorithmic Price-Fixing

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    Gov. Gavin Newsom signed two laws this month significantly expanding state antitrust enforcement and civil and criminal penalties for the use or distribution of shared pricing algorithms, as the U.S. Department of Justice has recently wielded the Sherman Act to challenge algorithmic pricing, say attorneys at Pillsbury.

  • Iran Sanctions Snapback Raises Global Compliance Risks

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    ​The reimplementation of U.N. sanctions targeting Iran’s nuclear program​, under a Security Council resolution​'s snapback mechanism, and​ related actions in Europe and the U.K., may change U.S. due diligence expectations and enforcement policies, particularly as they apply to non-U.S. businesses that do business with Iran, says John Sandage at Berliner Corcoran.

  • Opinion

    High Court, Not A Single Justice, Should Decide On Recusal

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    As public trust in the U.S. Supreme Court continues to decline, the court should adopt a collegial framework in which all justices decide questions of recusal together — a reform that respects both judicial independence and due process for litigants, say Michael Broyde at Emory University and Hayden Hall at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

  • How A New BIS Rule Greatly Expands Export Restrictions

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    The newly effective affiliates rule from the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry and Security restricts exports to foreign companies that are 50% or more owned by entities listed on the BIS entity list and the military end-user list — a major shift in U.S. export control enforcement, say attorneys at Simpson Thacher.

  • Series

    Traveling Solo Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Traveling by myself has taught me to assess risk, understand tone and stay calm in high-pressure situations, which are not only useful life skills, but the foundation of how I support my clients, says Lacey Gutierrez at Group Five Legal.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Client Service

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    Law school teaches you how to interpret the law, but it doesn't teach you some of the key ways to keeping clients satisfied, lessons that I've learned in the most unexpected of places: a book on how to be a butler, says Gregory Ramos at Armstrong Teasdale.

  • Bid Protest Spotlight: Documentation, Overrides, Eligibility

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    Recent decisions by the U.S. Court of Federal Claims and the U.S. Government Accountability Office illustrate the importance of contemporaneous documentation in proposal evaluations, the standards for an agency’s override of a Competition in Contracting Act stay, and the regulatory requirements for small business joint ventures, says Cody Fisher at MoFo.

  • Series

    Adapting To Private Practice: 3 Tips On Finding The Right Job

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    After 23 years as a state and federal prosecutor, when I contemplated moving to a law firm, practicing solo or going in-house, I found there's a critical first step — deep self-reflection on what you truly want to do and where your strengths lie, says Rachael Jones at McKool Smith.

  • Preparing For What DOD Cybersecurity Audits May Uncover

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    Defense contractors seeking certification under the U.S. Department of Defense's Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program that begins implementation on Nov. 10 may discover previously unknown violations, but there are steps they can take to address any issues before they come to the attention of enforcement authorities, say attorneys at Troutman.

  • Series

    Painting Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Painting trains me to see both the fine detail and the whole composition at once, enabling me to identify friction points while keeping sight of a client's bigger vision, but the most significant lesson I've brought to my legal work has been the value of originality, says Jana Gouchev at Gouchev Law.

  • Protecting Sensitive Court Filings After Recent Cyber Breach

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    In the wake of a recent cyberattack on federal courts' Case Management/Electronic Case Files system, civil litigants should consider seeking enhanced protections for sensitive materials filed under seal to mitigate the risk of unauthorized exposure, say attorneys at Redgrave.

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