Aerospace & Defense

  • June 03, 2026

    Siemens' $2.2M Suit Over Army Project Prep Costs Tossed

    The U.S. Court of Federal Claims dismissed a Siemens unit's lawsuit seeking roughly $2.2 million in bid-preparation costs over an energy savings task order the U.S. Army ultimately didn't issue, finding the overarching contract expressly barred such recovery.

  • June 03, 2026

    SpaceX Launches Plans For Massive $75B IPO

    SpaceX on Wednesday outlined a price target for its blockbuster initial public offering, telling U.S. regulators that it expects to raise $75 billion in what would mark the largest IPO in history.

  • June 03, 2026

    NextNav GPS Backup Called 'Destructive' To Public Safety

    A U.S. House subcommittee is set to hear proposals Thursday to deploy new Earth-based systems to back up GPS, but one public advocacy group is sounding the alarm ahead of time about the dangers of a spectrum-based alternative proffered by NextNav.

  • June 03, 2026

    NJ Says Most Of $3B PFAS Deal Objector Issues Are Resolved

    New Jersey told a federal court this week it has reached agreements with all but two of the parties that objected to proposed deals worth a combined $3 billion with 3M Co. and various DuPont entities to resolve claims over contamination caused by forever chemicals, saying the agreements further support the court's approval of the settlements.

  • June 03, 2026

    11th Circ. Revives Cop's Military Service Bias Suit

    The Eleventh Circuit reopened a lawsuit alleging that a Florida city police officer was harassed and demoted because he took time off for military service, holding that the trial court needed to take a closer look at whether the back pay he received was enough to remedy the situation.

  • June 03, 2026

    Kirkland-Led Defense Firm Applied Aerospace Inks $650M IPO

    Applied Aerospace & Defense Inc., with a market value of $3.4 billion, began trading publicly on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday after raising $650 million with an initial public offering guided by Kirkland & Ellis LLP and Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP.

  • June 03, 2026

    Air Force Lawfully Re-Awarded Avionics Contract, Judge Says

    A U.S. Court of Federal Claims judge said two companies challenging an Air Force decision to re-award a contract to update avionics in training aircraft and simulators failed to flag any basis to disturb the deal.

  • June 03, 2026

    USTR Seeks Input On China Preferential Trade Mechanism

    The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced what it is calling a government-to-government mechanism that will manage bilateral trade between the U.S. and China, including by considering tariff cuts, and asked for public comments on the program's development.

  • June 03, 2026

    Germany's Rheinmetall Selling Auto Biz To Aequita For $406M

    German defense contractor Rheinmetall said Wednesday it has agreed to sell its civilian Power Systems business to Munich-based industrial holding company Aequita for €350 million, or roughly $406 million.

  • June 02, 2026

    Feds Blocked From Divesting Wyo. Facility Stewardship

    A Colorado federal judge ruled that a Wyoming supercomputing facility used for atmospheric research must stay under a consortium of 129 universities' care pending litigation over the National Science Foundation's decision to divest the consortium of stewardship, saying the NSF failed to explain its decision and effectively ignored public comments.

  • June 02, 2026

    Finalized Trump Order Seeks Early Cyber Tests Of AI Models

    President Donald Trump signed an executive order Tuesday to push the developers of advanced artificial intelligence models to voluntarily share their systems with the federal government for pre-release cybersecurity testing, following changes to a previous draft that the president abruptly shelved last month due to concerns about its effect on innovation. 

  • June 02, 2026

    Feds Say Lejeune Plaintiffs Seek Billion-Dollar 'Windfall'

    The federal government has told a North Carolina federal court that Camp Lejeune litigants are trying to rewrite the 2022 federal law that allowed them to recover damages from their exposure to toxic water on the base to give them a "windfall" of billions of dollars.

  • June 02, 2026

    FCC Overstepping Authority In Device Denials, Hikvision Says

    Congress didn't give the Federal Communications Commission the power to pull already authorized equipment off the market by placing it on the so-called covered list of equipment deemed to be a national security risk, Hikvision has told the D.C. Circuit.

  • June 02, 2026

    Texas Biz Court Sinks Vessel Tracking Co.'s Discovery Bid

    A Texas Business Court judge quoted ancient Greek philosophers when he denied a request for an order submitted by a geospatial data analytics company seeking discovery relating to a government bid from its erstwhile business partner, saying that granting the request may create unintended harm.

  • June 02, 2026

    Iran's Biggest Crypto Exchange Hit With US Sanctions

    The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned Iran's largest crypto exchange and three other crypto platforms Tuesday for allegedly aiding the Iranian government and evading sanctions amid the Trump administration's efforts to put economic pressure on Iran.

  • June 02, 2026

    Feds Argue NASA Union Local Can't Halt Library Shutdown

    The union local representing workers at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland shouldn't be allowed to join its parent union's lawsuit against the Trump administration, the administration is arguing, asking a D.C. federal judge to deny the local's attempt to intervene to save a NASA library.

  • June 02, 2026

    Brazil Facing 25% US Tariff Over IP, Other 'Unfair Practices'

    The U.S. Trade Representative proposed hitting Brazil with a broad 25% tariff following a trade investigation that it says uncovered a slew of "unfair practices that imposed burdens on American businesses," including poorly enforced intellectual property rights and preferential tariffs.

  • June 02, 2026

    Northrop To Pay $75M In Midtrial LA Contamination Deal

    Residents of a Los Angeles suburb who sued Northrop Grumman over alleged environmental contamination have asked a California federal judge to preliminarily approve a $75 million class deal struck midtrial with the aerospace company that also proposes their attorneys receive up to 40% of the fund — and possibly more.

  • June 02, 2026

    PE-Backed Arxis Buys Omnetics, MagCanica For $890M

    Aerospace and defense company Arxis on Tuesday announced that it has agreed to acquire aerospace and defense manufacturer Omnetics Connector Corp. and torque sensor-maker MagCanica Inc. for a combined purchase price of $890 million.

  • June 02, 2026

    Trump Taps Housing Finance Head For Intelligence Role

    President Donald Trump announced Tuesday on Truth Social that he was naming Federal Housing Finance Agency head and political ally William Pulte as acting director of national intelligence.

  • June 02, 2026

    Voyager's $300M Astrobotic Deal Fuels Lunar Build-Out Plans

    Denver-based defense and space solutions company Voyager Technologies said Tuesday that it has agreed to purchase Astrobotic Technology Inc. for about $300 million as it ramps up plans to create the infrastructure needed to sustain moon-based space exploration.

  • June 02, 2026

    30-Year Foreign Service Leader Joins Squire Patton In DC

    Squire Patton Boggs LLP has hired the State Department's former acting assistant secretary for Near East Affairs, who was also the first U.S. special envoy for Yemen and throughout his more-than-30-year career with the agency held posts in Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Iraq and other countries.

  • June 01, 2026

    DC Circ. Says Military Trans Ban Flouts Constitutional Rights

    A divided D.C. Circuit panel Monday said the Trump administration illegally banned transgender individuals from military service, then narrowed a preliminary injunction to prevent the government's exclusion of transgender people presently serving in the military but not those desiring to enlist.

  • June 01, 2026

    Moderna Tells Fed. Circ. US Must Face COVID Vax Patent Case

    Moderna has urged the Federal Circuit to rule that Arbutus Biopharma must pursue its patent infringement claims over Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine against the U.S. government, saying a lower court ruling that Moderna must face the multibillion-dollar suit was "deeply flawed."

  • June 01, 2026

    2nd Circ. Backs Yacht Forfeiture Absent Proof Of Ownership

    A Second Circuit panel on Monday affirmed a district court decision that authorized the United States to sell a seized superyacht, finding the businessman contesting its sale could not prove he was the yacht's true owner.

Expert Analysis

  • 4 Emerging Approaches To AI Protective Order Language

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    Over the last year, at least five federal district courts have issued or analyzed specific protective order provisions restricting the use of generative artificial intelligence platforms with protected materials, establishing that proactive AI-specific provisions are now standard practice and demonstrating that no single model works for every case, says Joel Bush at Kilpatrick.

  • Contract Disputes Recap: Notice, Timeliness, Jurisdiction

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    Three recent cases from the Armed Service Board of Contract Appeals provide insights about the impact of defects in a government notice of appeal rights, timeliness exceptions and limits on the board's jurisdiction to enforce a settlement agreement, say attorneys at Seyfarth.

  • Binance Win Shows Constraints On Anti-Terrorism Act Claims

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    The Southern District of New York's recent ruling in Troell v. Binance illustrates that the Second Circuit's earlier decision in Ashley v. Deutsche Bank is holding weight with courts, and companies facing aiding and abetting risk should thus monitor evolving case law and assess exposure based on nexus allegations, say attorneys at Freshfields.

  • Understanding The Insider Trading Gap In Prediction Markets

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    While the first-ever insider trading indictment involving a prediction market — the recent prosecution of a service member involved in the capture of Nicolás Maduro — comprised extreme facts and straightforward legal theories, future cases will test the bounds of insider trading law, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

  • Heppner Ruling Left AI Privilege Risk For Lawyers Unresolved

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    While a New York federal judge’s recent ruling in U.S. v. Heppner resolved a privilege question surrounding client-side artificial intelligence use, it did not address how to mitigate the risks that can arise when confidential information enters the operative context of an AI system used by an attorney, says Jianfei Chen at Quarles & Brady​​​​​​​.

  • Rightsizing Regulation To Usher In Next-Generation Nuclear

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    Next-generation nuclear seems to be having its moment as a recent flurry of Nuclear Regulatory Commission rulemaking aims to fast-track the licensing and deployment of such technologies, says Hilary Jacobs at Beveridge & Diamond.

  • Expect US Enforcers' Cartel Crackdown To Continue

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    Since agencies’ coordinated enforcement efforts targeting cartel-related activity have not slowed, U.S. companies in Latin America should assess new business lines for designated-cartel ties, scrutinize highest-risk third parties, and enhance training and internal investigation practices, say attorneys at Miller & Chevalier.

  • The Ethics And Practicalities Of Representing AI Agents

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    With autonomous artificial intelligence agents now able to take action without explicit instructions from — or the awareness of — their human owners, the bar must confront whether existing frameworks like informed consent and client privilege will be sufficient on the day an AI agent calls seeking counsel, say attorneys at Morrison Cohen.

  • FCC Rule Changes Could Accelerate The Space Economy

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    A series of recently proposed Federal Communications Commission rulemakings that would expand opportunities for commercial space and satellite operations signal a regulatory shift toward greater flexibility, faster processing and more deliberate spectrum planning for space-adjacent and emergent space activities, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Surveying The CFTC Campaign To Control Prediction Markets

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    The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission is simultaneously asserting exclusive jurisdiction over prediction markets and signaling aggressive enforcement within them, a combination that will reshape the regulatory landscape for event contract platforms — pending the outcome of several court cases throughout the country and a likely circuit split, say attorneys at Paul Weiss.

  • Series

    Speed Jigsaw Puzzling Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My passion for speed puzzling — I can complete a 500-piece jigsaw puzzle in under 50 minutes — has sharpened my legal skills in more ways than one, with both disciplines requiring patience, precision and the ability to keep the bigger picture in mind while working through the details, says Tazia Statucki at Proskauer.

  • 2 AI Snafus Show Why Attys Can't Outsource Judgment

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    The recent incident involving Sullivan & Cromwell where citations in a filed motion were fabricated by artificial intelligence, as well as a punitive ruling from the Sixth Circuit in U.S. v. Farris, demonstrate that the obligation to supervise AI has belonged and always will belong to lawyers, says John Powell at the Kentucky School Boards Association.

  • Series

    Playing Magic: The Gathering Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    The competitive card game Magic: The Gathering offers me a training ground for the strategic thinking skills crucial to litigation, challenging me to adapt to oft-updated rules, analyze text as complicated as any statute and anticipate my opponent’s next moves, says Christopher Smith at Lash Goldberg.

  • Improving Well-Being In Law, 10 Years After Landmark Study

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    An important 2016 study revealed significant substance abuse and mental health issues among lawyers, and while the findings helped normalize the conversation around these topics, a decade later, structural change is still needed, says Denise Robinson at PLI.

  • How To Gear Up For Trump's Pharma Tariffs

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    President Donald Trump's proclamation establishing tariffs on certain pharmaceutical products holds a few areas of ambiguity that companies should review and prepare for before the tariffs come into effect later this year, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

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