Aerospace & Defense

  • July 29, 2026

    IonQ OK'd For $1.8B SkyWater Merger After FTC Ends Review

    IonQ announced on Tuesday it scored final regulatory approval following an early termination notice by the Federal Trade Commission in its acquisition of U.S.-based semiconductor foundry SkyWater Technology and that it is aiming to close the deal Friday, which will allow both companies to serve the full quantum ecosystem. 

  • July 29, 2026

    Afghan Families Must Be Admitted Into US Despite Trump Ban

    A Virginia federal judge Wednesday ordered that the families of five Afghans who fought for the United States be allowed to enter the country within weeks and that two other families who have yet to be interviewed by the State Department have their applications processed within the month.

  • July 29, 2026

    AFGE Says VA Plans To Ax Union Contract Despite Injunction

    The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs would violate an injunction and its union contract if it carries out its plan to stop honoring the contract when the pact expires Aug. 8, a union local claimed, asking a D.C. federal judge to force the agency to continue complying.

  • July 29, 2026

    Texas Ties Sway Transfer Ruling In SpaceX Land-Swap Fight

    A D.C. federal judge has allowed SpaceX and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to shift a dispute over their planned land swap to Texas, finding most significant aspects of the case are tied to the Lone Star State.

  • July 29, 2026

    ACLU Seeks DOD Docs On Military Role In Immigration Courts

    The American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts on Wednesday sued the Trump administration for records about the purported use of military personnel to serve as temporary immigration judges, which the organization called a violation of the founders' desire to keep the military out of domestic law enforcement.

  • July 28, 2026

    11th Circ. Sides With Lockheed Martin In Toxic Exposure Suits

    The Eleventh Circuit on Tuesday refused to disturb a Florida federal court's decision excluding testimony from plaintiffs' experts in a pair of suits claiming Lockheed Martin allowed toxic waste to leach into the area surrounding its Orlando facility, ruling that both experts' testimony fell short of evidentiary requirements.

  • July 28, 2026

    DHS Can't Undo Order Halting TSA Union Deal Cancellation

    A federal judge in Seattle denied the Trump administration's bid on Tuesday to lift a court order blocking the U.S. Department of Homeland Security from canceling a collective bargaining agreement covering thousands of Transportation Security Administration workers, saying the government failed to debunk two independent grounds for the injunction.

  • July 28, 2026

    FCC Says Starlink Routers Exempt From Nat'l Security Ban

    The Federal Communications Commission has banned virtually all foreign-made routers from the United States, citing national security concerns, but it isn't worried about ones made by billionaire Elon Musk's satellite internet company Starlink.

  • July 28, 2026

    Senate Confirms Jay Clayton As National Intelligence Chief

    The U.S. Senate voted Tuesday to confirm Jay Clayton as director of national intelligence, two weeks after Clayton, the former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, refused to answer who he thought won the 2020 election during his confirmation hearing.

  • July 28, 2026

    States Back Guam Group In High Court Disposal Permit Fight

    A coalition of states has told the U.S. Supreme Court that the U.S. Air Force must comply with separate, complementary environmental laws over its permit renewal application to detonate expired munitions in Guam, arguing the laws have distinct aims.

  • July 28, 2026

    Alkegen Can Draw On Ch. 11 Financing In Prepack Case

    Bankrupt specialty materials maker Alkegen received permission Tuesday from a Texas judge to access part of a $630 million bankruptcy loan from existing lenders after opposition over the size of the interim package was overruled.

  • July 28, 2026

    4th Circ. Says DOL Can Argue In Lockheed Pension Suit

    A Fourth Circuit panel granted the U.S. Department of Labor's request to participate in oral arguments for a Lockheed Martin Corp. appeal challenging a Maryland federal judge's refusal to dismiss a proposed class action challenging a $9 billion pension risk transfer.

  • July 28, 2026

    Humanoids, Other Robotics Added To FCC's Nat'l Security List

    The Federal Communications Commission said Tuesday that humanoids and other advanced robotics newly produced in foreign countries will be included on the "covered list" of products restricted from U.S. importation and marketing.

  • July 28, 2026

    Insurance Co. Beats Kosovo Citizens' Disability Benefits Suit

    A New York Life Insurance Co. unit defeated a lawsuit alleging it breached Pennsylvania law when it denied disability benefits to 17 Kosovo citizens who supported the U.S. military in Afghanistan, with a federal judge ruling the claims are preempted by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

  • July 28, 2026

    GAO Denies Protest Over $83M Space Force Support Deal

    The U.S. Government Accountability Office denied a California company's protest over an $83 million U.S. Space Force award for research support, concluding that the agency reasonably weighed staffing experience and compensation factors before selecting an Alabama company's lower-cost, higher-risk proposal.

  • July 28, 2026

    Brazil Files Complaint At WTO Against US Tariffs

    The Brazilian government filed a complaint at the World Trade Organization against U.S. tariffs placed on Brazilian goods, arguing that the measures run afoul of global trade rules, it said Monday evening. 

  • July 27, 2026

    Oryx Says Constellis' Fee Bid Appears Hallucination-Based

    An Afghanistan camp operator asked a Virginia federal judge to throw out counterclaims brought by defense contractors it sued, asserting that one seeking costs and fees appears to be based on hallucinated language not found in cited agreements.

  • July 27, 2026

    DOD Strikes Deals To Boost Missile Defense Production

    The U.S. Department of Defense announced agreements with L3Harris and Lockheed Martin on Monday aimed at boosting production capacity for key components of two major missile defense systems, the PAC-3 missile segment enhancement interceptor and THAAD missile system.

  • July 27, 2026

    Judge Allows Air Force Contractor To Pursue Follow-On Award

    A U.S. Court of Federal Claims judge said a defense contractor can challenge the U.S. Air Force's refusal to award a Phase III contract for surveillance software, prompting the agency to reconsider its decision to not award the follow-on deal.

  • July 27, 2026

    Groups Say National Pipeline Permit Harms Rivers, Wetlands

    Environmental organizations asked a Washington federal judge Monday to overturn a nationwide permit the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reissued for oil and gas pipelines, accusing the agency of allowing companies to fast-track stream crossings without the appropriate considerations or safeguards.

  • July 27, 2026

    Fried Frank, Kirkland Steer $466M Luxfer Go-Private Deal

    Wynnchurch Capital has agreed to buy aerospace materials maker Luxfer Holdings in a nearly $466 million deal, the companies announced Monday, with Kirkland & Ellis LLP advising Wynnchurch and Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson LLP advising Luxfer. 

  • July 27, 2026

    FedEx Will Pay $900K To End Military Leave Bias Fight

    FedEx agreed to pay $900,000 to close a suit claiming the company didn't compensate its service member employees who took short-term military leave but provided pay for other short-term leave such as jury duty and bereavement time, according to a Georgia federal court filing.

  • July 27, 2026

    Antares Raises $470M For Military Nuclear Reactor Push

    U.S. Department of Energy Reactor Pilot Program participant Antares announced Monday that it had raised $470 million in its Series C funding, which will allow the company to accelerate the commercialization of its nuclear power systems.

  • July 27, 2026

    Alkegen Files Ch. 11 In Texas To Shed $3.1B In Debt

    Alkegen and dozens of affiliates filed a prepackaged Chapter 11 case in Texas bankruptcy court, where the specialty materials maker intends to cut the bulk of its $3.3 billion of funded debt obligations.

  • July 27, 2026

    TransDigm To Buy Aerospace Manufacturer In $1.1B Deal

    Aircraft company TransDigm, advised by BakerHostetler, unveiled plans Monday to acquire manufacturing company Prince & Izant from Paul Hastings LLP-led Industrial Growth Partners in a roughly $1.1 billion cash deal.

Expert Analysis

  • Your Next Litigation Hold Should Cover AI Chat Logs

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    The Delaware Chancery Court’s recent decision in Fortis Advisors v. Krafton to treat a CEO’s artificial intelligence chats as substantive evidence is being read as a discovery warning to litigators, but there is a second duty-to-preserve lesson that is especially pertinent to in-house counsel, say attorneys at Faegre Drinker.

  • Series

    Studying Foreign Languages Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Studying Italian and Japanese has shown me that learning a new language can benefit a legal career in several ways, including by demonstrating the importance of approaching problems from a fresh perspective and the value of practicing patience with colleagues and clients, says Anna King at Genworth Financial.

  • Sold Inventory May Drive Tax Treatment Of Tariff Refunds

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    Companies determining the tax treatment of refunds expected following the U.S. Supreme Court's February decision invalidating tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act should consider whether the tariff costs have already reduced their income considering the cost of goods sold, say attorneys at McDermott.

  • Series

    NY Times Word Puzzles Make Me A Better Lawyer

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    Every morning I let The New York Times humble me with word games, which offer a chance to recalibrate my brain before the day's chaos arrives and remind me that a solution — whether to a puzzle or employment law issue — almost always exists once I find the right angle, says Amy Epstein Gluck at Pierson Ferdinand.

  • How Anthropic's Mythos May Upend Defense Cyber Rules

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    Anthropic’s recent announcement that Claude Mythos, an AI general-purpose language model, could soon enable virtually anyone to exploit vulnerabilities in major web browsers and operating systems marks an imminent increase in threat levels that current defense cybersecurity regulations were not designed to navigate, say attorneys at Fluet.

  • Big Issues Linger After Senate Prediction Market Trading Ban

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    Whether the Senate can — or should — extend prediction market trading restrictions beyond itself will test not only the boundaries of insider trading law, but also the structural limits of legislative power in an era where information itself has become a tradable asset, say attorneys at Benesch.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lesson: Diagnose Before Arguing

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    Law school often skips over explicitly teaching students how to determine what kind of problem a case presents before they commit to a particular doctrinal path, which risks building arguments that are internally coherent but externally misaligned, says Melanie Oxhorn at Kobre & Kim.

  • Becoming The Biz-Savvy GC That Portfolio Companies Need

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    Candidates for general counsel roles at private equity-backed portfolio companies should prioritize proving their sector-specific experience, commercial judgment and ease with uncertainty — and attorneys hoping to be candidates in five to 10 years should start working on those skills now, says Dimitri Mastrocola at Major Lindsey.

  • Bid Protest Spotlight: Discriminators, Fairness, Experience

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    In this month's bid protest roundup, Victoria Angle at MoFo surveys three recent decisions from the Government Accountability Office that show performance benchmarks may serve as qualitative discriminators, solicitation amendments and timelines must allow for fair competition, and past performance submissions must strictly comply with proposal requests.

  • AI Regulatory Gaps May Fuel FCA Enforcement Action

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    The intersection of artificial intelligence and False Claims Act enforcement presents legal risk for government contractors across several industries, particularly in the absence of a federal regulatory framework explicitly governing its development and use, say attorneys at O’Melveny.

  • Series

    Judges On AI: How Courts Can Survive The Tech Revolution

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    Colorado Supreme Court Justice Maria Berkenkotter and Colorado Court of Appeals Judge Lino Lipinsky de Orlov discuss how artificial intelligence has already fundamentally altered the legal system and offer tips for courts navigating deepfakes, hallucinations and a gap in access to AI tools.

  • 3 AI Adoption Mistakes GCs Should Avoid

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    The pressure in-house legal teams face to quickly adopt artificial intelligence tools, combined with budget constraints and the need to evaluate a crowded market of options, sets the stage for implementation mistakes that are often difficult to undo, says former 23andMe general counsel Guy Chayoun.

  • Series

    Playing Basketball Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My grandfather used to say "I wear your jersey" as shorthand for wholly committing to support someone with loyalty and integrity — ideals that have shaped my life on the basketball court and in legal practice, says Tracy Schimelfenig at Schimelfenig Legal.

  • New Cuba Sanctions Raise Risks For Foreign Banks, Cos.

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    President Donald Trump's bold move leveling secondary sanctions against Cuba expands enforcement risk for foreign banks and companies with no U.S. nexus, signaling that non-U.S. businesses should reassess related transactions, counterparties and exposure as regulators test this broader authority, say attorneys at Troutman.

  • How Cos. Can Navigate Iran Sanctions Risks In China

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    For multinational financial institutions and other companies caught between the U.S. and China’s competing compliance regimes as they relate to Iranian oil, finding a path forward will require careful, jurisdiction-specific analysis, say attorneys at Perkins Coie and Ashurst.

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