Aerospace & Defense

  • August 18, 2026

    Hesai Deprived Due Process Over DOD List, DC Circ. Says

    A D.C. Circuit panel held Tuesday that a Department of Defense decision to include Shanghai lidar-maker Hesai on a list of Chinese military companies didn't give the company due process, reversing a lower court's ruling while also allowing the designation to remain in effect.

  • August 18, 2026

    Boeing Is Pressed For Financial Records In NASA IP Row

    Wilson Aerospace LLC asked a Washington federal judge to compel the Boeing Co. Inc. to turn over financial materials and other documents that have information relevant to their dispute over technology used in NASA's moon program.

  • August 18, 2026

    Bot Errors Doom Expert's Credibility In Tainted-Supplement Suit

    A Washington federal judge Tuesday disposed of a U.S. Army nurse's lawsuit claiming supplement maker Thesis Nootropics sold products tainted with amphetamines, concluding that a key expert destroyed his credibility by submitting a report containing bot-generated false citations — much like errors for which the plaintiffs' counsel was recently sanctioned.

  • August 18, 2026

    Feds Seek Full 4th Circ. Review Of DEI Firings Row

    The federal government urged the Fourth Circuit to review a split panel's decision requiring the CIA and Office of the Director of National Intelligence to allow intelligence officers who were fired for their involvement with assignments related to DEI and accessibility to appeal their terminations.

  • August 18, 2026

    Judge Cancels $82M Navy Base Operations Services Contract

    A U.S. Court of Federal Claims judge ordered the Navy to cancel an $82 million contract for base operations support services at Naval Base Coronado in Southern California, finding the Navy failed to consider the winning contractor's negative performance under a prior contract.  

  • August 18, 2026

    Are Trump Diamond Tariff Breaks Tied To Gift? Wyden Asks

    Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., on Tuesday demanded answers about President Donald Trump granting a tariff exemption for diamonds shortly after being given a gem-coated watch, claiming the circumstances may be tantamount to bribery, while also raising concerns about potential conflicts of interest in a separate duty investigation.

  • August 18, 2026

    FAA Contractor Says Ex-VP, Competitor Cannot Use Its IP

    A Federal Aviation Administration contractor asked a Virginia federal court to prohibit its former vice president and his new company from recruiting the firm's employees and using its proprietary information, saying their actions could cause irreparable harm to its business.

  • August 18, 2026

    Political Consultant Gets 5 Years In Venezuela FARA Case

    A Florida federal judge on Tuesday sentenced the political consultant convicted alongside ex-Florida Rep. David Rivera to five years in prison after she was found guilty of willfully failing to register as a foreign agent for her work on a $50 million contract with a unit of Venezuela's state-owned oil company.

  • August 18, 2026

    Alaska Airlines Gets Initial OK For $500K Military Leave Deal

    Alaska Airlines Inc. has agreed to pay $500,000 to settle a class action accusing it of denying vacation accrual to pilots during qualifying military leaves, according to a Washington federal judge's preliminary approval order.

  • August 17, 2026

    Experts See Looming Legal Disputes Over FCC Party Balance

    The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decision to ditch case law shielding independent federal agency members from presidential removal is unlikely to resolve ongoing controversy over White House control of the Federal Communications Commission, experts said Monday.

  • August 17, 2026

    Moderna, Arbutus Clash On Gov't Venue For Vax IP Claims

    Moderna Inc. has accused Arbutus Biopharma Corp. of turning a government contractor indemnification law "upside down" by arguing the COVID-19 vaccine supplier must face infringement litigation, while Arbutus says the government is wielding that relationship to dodge liability in two separate courts.

  • August 17, 2026

    Virgin Galactic's $2.8M Shareholder Deal Gets Final OK

    Virgin Galactic investors received final approval of their settlement that will end derivative claims arguing the company was damaged by founder Richard Branson and others' attempts to cover up rocket ships' design flaws, and includes a nearly $2.8 million payout to the company and appointment of a chief compliance officer.

  • August 17, 2026

    Dem Lawmakers Press Hegseth On USS Lincoln Conditions

    Democratic lawmakers are demanding answers from Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth over reported conditions on the USS Abraham Lincoln, which has been deployed for more than 250 days, setting modern records for days at sea without returning to port.

  • August 17, 2026

    Russia Faces Tough Questions In $1.1B Crimea Award Fight

    A D.C. federal judge appeared unconvinced Monday that the Russian Federation could get an early out from a Ukrainian bank's suit to enforce a $1.1 billion arbitral award by claiming that the law of international armed conflict rendered expropriation protections in the nations' bilateral investment treaty toothless.

  • August 17, 2026

    Nashville, Localities Sue DHS Over FEMA Funding Condition

    Nashville, Tennessee, and local governments in Texas and Ohio sued the U.S. Department of Homeland Security on Monday, saying the Trump administration is unlawfully hijacking the Homeland Security Grant Program to coerce states into changing their local election procedures.

  • August 17, 2026

    Biz Says File Name Error Led To Rejection For $50B Contract

    A defense contractor alleged that the U.S. Army unlawfully excluded it from competing for a $50 billion contract after the agency's online portal rejected the company's proposal over improperly formatted file names and then marked the submission as untimely.

  • August 17, 2026

    Judge Orders Stay In Ex-Defense Contractor Execs' Suit

    A Colorado federal magistrate judge partially granted on Monday a defense contractor's bid for a stay in two former executives' case against it that claimed the contractor fired them for reporting a $1.9 million fraud scheme on a classified government contract.

  • August 17, 2026

    Integrity Technologies Nabs $55B Navy Support Contract

    The U.S. Navy has awarded telecommunications provider Integrity Technologies Corp. a $55 billion contract to support the military and other federal agencies as they establish and maintain operations within the United States and its outlying territories, the agency said.

  • August 14, 2026

    Tricolor Founder Can't Ax 'Infrequently Charged' Lead Count

    The founder and former CEO of bankrupt subprime auto lender Tricolor Holdings cannot dodge a criminal enterprise charge in federal prosecutors' case alleging a yearslong scheme to defraud the company's lenders and investors, a New York federal judge ruled on Friday.

  • August 14, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Overrules Precedent On Veteran Hiring Protections

    The Federal Circuit on Friday revived a disabled veteran's challenge to the U.S. Navy's handling of his promotion application, which the agency rejected after mistakenly finding he didn't submit certain documents, and then reviewed only after giving the job to someone else. 

  • August 14, 2026

    Trump Aims To Rebuild US Maritime Industrial Base

    President Donald Trump signed a memorandum aimed at addressing backlogs in U.S. Navy shipbuilding by directing the Pentagon to pursue direct investments in the U.S. maritime industrial base from foreign suppliers to boost competition. 

  • August 14, 2026

    4 Questions On Excess Manufacturing Capacity Tariffs

    Stakeholders anticipate new tariffs on key trading partners stemming from allegations that excess manufacturing capacity is causing harm to U.S. businesses, but several open questions remain about the extent to which duty burdens will increase and whether countries will retaliate in response. Here, Law360 considers four such questions.

  • August 14, 2026

    Drone-Maker Gets Partial Do-Over In Chinese Gov't Ties Suit

    The D.C. Circuit Friday partially overturned a lower court win for the U.S. Department of Defense in its dispute with a drone-maker over being designated a Chinese military company, saying there is no publicly stated rationale for the decision.

  • August 14, 2026

    Tetra Tech Loses Bid To Halt Army Corps Fuel Services Award

    A federal judge has denied Tetra Tech Inc.'s push to block performance of a challenged award the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued to Pond Constructors Inc. for fuel support services, pointing in part to a lapse in essential services it would cause.

  • August 14, 2026

    Trump Hits Imported Drones With Up To 100% Tariffs

    Large drones and those with certain capabilities "that are particularly sensitive for national security purposes" and their components will face a 100% ad valorem tariff starting in September, President Donald Trump ordered, with smaller drones and other components facing a 25% tariff.

Expert Analysis

  • How To Brace For A Potential Democratic Oversight Push

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    With the possibility of a shift in congressional control after the November midterm elections, companies and their general counsel should prepare now by mapping oversight exposure, reviewing government interactions, preserving records and developing coordinated communications strategies, say attorneys at Hogan Lovells.

  • Remote Work Rulings Show ADA Fights Hinge On Process

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    Two opposite outcomes in recent Fifth Circuit and D.C. federal court cases underscore that the legality of denying employees' disability accommodation requests for remote work depends less on broad policy and more on how it's applied, says Paul Sweeney at Ice Miller.

  • Protecting Quantum Innovation As The Sector Commercializes

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    As quantum technologies continue to attract growing commercial investment and government interest, intellectual property protection is becoming an increasingly important consideration, says Michael Schallop at Van Pelt Yi.

  • DOD's Cyber Certification Pause May Heighten FCA Risks

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    The July 14 pause in implementation of the U.S. Department of Defense Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program places more weight on the accuracy of contractors' own compliance representations and thereby increases their False Claims Act exposure by leaving stringent self-assessment requirements intact, say attorneys at Haynes Boone.

  • Series

    Being A Magician Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    The skills I've developed as a lifelong magician have translated directly into tangible benefits in the courtroom because performing magic and trying cases both live at the intersection of psychology, storytelling, timing and disciplined rehearsal, says Mark Dombroff at Fox Rothschild.

  • Bid Protest Spotlight: Price Realism, High Bid, Interested Party

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    In this month's bid protest roundup, Brian Doll at MoFo surveys three recent Government Accountability Office decisions that show a price realism argument cannot be repackaged as a disparate treatment challenge, an agency's allegedly misleading conduct must be connected to a concrete pricing decision, and interested-party status isn't just a pleading formality.

  • Lessons On Contingency Planning From OFAC's Iran Reversal

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    The Office of Foreign Assets Control‘s abrupt revocation of a recent license easing sanctions on Iranian oil products shows commercial dealings relying on OFAC licenses or with higher sanctions risks should expressly address what happens if a policy change makes performance prohibited, says Michelle Roberts at Berliner Corcoran.

  • Reviving Prize Law Would Reshape Maritime Seizure Risks

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    Recent U.S. maritime interdictions of sanctioned tankers and shadow fleet vessels raise urgent questions about whether civil forfeiture or prize law — a framework that has not been meaningfully tested since the Spanish-American War — governs and the potential impacts on vessel owners, charterers and insurers, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • CFIUS' Mandate Misses Foreign Risk In Project Subcontracts

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    Recent calls for the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States to review equity transactions like the Paramount Skydance-Warner Bros. deal miss a consequential oversight gap — CFIUS' inability to review the subcontracting layer of U.S. infrastructure projects, says Thibaut Giret at Alstef Group.

  • Lessons From The DOJ's 1st Enforcement Policy Declination

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    The first U.S. Department of Justice declination to prosecute alleged export control violations and national security offenses offers a window into the operation of the administration’s recently implemented corporate enforcement and voluntary self‑disclosure policy, and how companies' compliance and cooperation efforts should be targeted, say attorneys at Pillsbury.

  • Series

    Bass Fishing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Landing a trophy striped bass and closing a big deal both require cultivating the patience to finesse — not force — your way to desired outcomes, changing course when your old approach isn’t working and learning from the ones that got away, says Jon Ruiss at Alston & Bird.

  • What Consent Decree Trends Mean For Deal Clearances

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    With merger remedies back on the table under the current administration, an analysis of recent Federal Trade Commission and U.S. Department of Justice consent decrees reveals that prior approval and prior notice provisions are no longer a foregone conclusion, and companies may be able to negotiate narrowly tailored obligations, say attorneys at Weil.

  • Roundup

    The Most Talked-About Supreme Court Decisions Of 2026

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    This term, 11 U.S. Supreme Court decisions quickly became hot topics among Law360's guest writers.

  • Structuring Space Nuclear Deals For Regulatory Risk

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    With the White House's recent focus on space nuclear power, a highly important question for companies that want to build orbital reactors, lunar surface systems or critical components is whether the transaction documents can handle foreign investment constraints, export controls and treaty-linked liability, says Kristie Blase at Frazer + Blase.

  • Quantum Readiness May Paradoxically Raise Contractor Risk

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    The organizations best positioned for the cryptographic system migration deadlines and other requirements under President Donald Trump’s recent quantum executive orders will be those able to inventory their cryptographic dependencies while protecting their vulnerability road map from adversaries, says Jesse Lemon at The Beckage Firm.

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