Aerospace & Defense

Expert Analysis

• Perspectives

  Judges On Race: The Power Of Discretion In Criminal Justice

  

  Judges should take into consideration the several points of law enforcement and prosecutorial discretion — from traffic stops to charging decisions and sentencing recommendations — that often lead to race-based disparate treatment before a criminal defendant even reaches the courthouse, say Judge Juan Villaseñor and Laurel Quinto at Colorado's Eighth Judicial District Court.

• 5 Attorney Business Development Tips For The New Year

  

  Lawyers should remember that the basics of interpersonal relationships have not changed despite the completely virtual environment caused by the pandemic, and should leverage the new year as an excuse to connect with clients in several ways, say Megan Senese and Courtney Hudson at Pillsbury.

• What Trading Restrictions On China Mean For US Markets

  

  Larry Bergmann and Robertson Park at Murphy & McGonigle analyze several issues that will alter the market for Chinese securities in the U.S., including imminent trading restrictions, that may affect stateside broker-dealers, alternative trading systems and securities exchanges as soon as this coming week.

• How Defense Bill Will Overhaul AML Policy In US

  

  The recently enacted National Defense Authorization Act significantly expands beneficial ownership disclosure requirements, which will likely boost anti-money laundering enforcement and bring U.S. policy in line with other countries' enhanced AML laws, say attorneys at Paul Weiss.

• Boeing Case Boosts Contractor Ability To Guard Trade Secrets

  

  By permitting government contractors to place proprietary legends on their data, the Federal Circuit's recent decision in Boeing v. Secretary of the Air Force will help contractors assert rights such as trade secret protections in unlimited rights data, say Jay Carey and Evan Sherwood at Covington.

• Minimizing Disruption To Clients During Law Firm IT Upgrades

  

  For law firms planning overhauls in their information technology infrastructures in light of hard lessons learned from pandemic-era transition to remote work, there are five ways to ensure even the biggest tech upgrade has minimal impact on client service, says Brad Paubel at Lexicon.

• Tips For Drafting Effective Amicus Briefs

  

  Careful construction of an amicus brief's essential elements — including the table of contents, which determines whether a brief gets studied or skimmed — and the order in which they are crafted are key to maximizing a party's hoped-for impact on a case before the U.S. Supreme Court or other appellate courts, say Mark Chopko and Karl Myers at Stradley Ronon.

• Bid Protest Spotlight: Key New Decisions And 2020 Highlights

  

  In this month's bid protest roundup, Victoria Angle and Michaela Thornton at MoFo focus attention on four December decisions from the U.S. Government Accountability Office, provide a few takeaways from the GAO's fiscal year 2020 report and highlight five of last year's most important bid protests.

• 5 Trends That Will Influence E-Discovery In 2021

  

  Changes in the way people work and communicate — which the pandemic has accelerated — will continue to bring new e-discovery challenges and shifts in data recovery this year, says Brian Schrader at Business Intelligence Associates.

• Prep For Increased Pay Equity Enforcement In Gov't Contracts

  

  Federal contractors can prepare for an uptick in Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs compensation enforcement under President-elect Joe Biden by conducting regular pay equity audits that identify and resolve gender- and race-based compensation disparities, says Jack Blum at Polsinelli.

• Opinion

  Congress Shouldn't Abrogate Section 230 Immunity

  

  Before tinkering with Section 230(c) of the Communications Decency Act, which has served the country well but has been attacked for protecting internet platforms, Congress should consider how capably courts have addressed Section 230 issues, as illustrated by a Florida federal court's ruling last year, say Aron Raskas and Nicole Atkinson at Gunster.

• How Relationship Partners Can Draft Winning RFP Responses

  

  With law firms likely to see longtime clients roll out requests for proposal amid cost-cutting strategies this year, relationship partners can ensure they don't lose their clients by taking five critical actions during the response process, says Matthew Prinn at RFP Advisory.

• Law Firm Merger Predictions For 2021

  

  After a brief break in the multiyear streak of increasing law firm mergers, 2021 seems poised for a return to normal, with acquisitions involving small firms — those with under 400 lawyers — likely to dominate, says Peter Zeughauser at Zeughauser Group.

• The Most-Read Legal Industry Guests Of 2020

  

  Popular legal industry guest articles this year included commentary on white privilege in BigLaw, the pandemic's outsize impact on female lawyers, and business development in a socially distanced world.

• DOE's China Order May Have Ripple Effects For Bulk Power

  

  The U.S. Department of Energy's recent order prohibits certain utilities from acquiring specified electric equipment with a China nexus that directly serves critical defense facilities, but companies should carefully examine their bulk power system supply chains to ensure they are not exposed, say attorneys at Kirkland.