Aerospace & Defense

  • August 30, 2024

    RTX Corp. To Settle Engineers' No-Poach Class Claims

    RTX Corp. on Friday announced a nascent class action settlement in a lawsuit accusing its Pratt & Whitney division of orchestrating an agreement among five aerospace engineering suppliers not to hire one another's employees, a move that follows a $26.5 million settlement between the employees and the five other firms.

  • August 30, 2024

    Navy Escapes Protest Over Modification To $50B Deal

    A Court of Federal Claims judge has tossed a challenge over the U.S. Navy modifying a $50 billion professional services contract, despite the protester saying the changes gave an unfair advantage to mentor-protégé joint ventures and their members.

  • August 30, 2024

    Gov't Contracts Of The Month: Base Networks, Nuclear Power

    In August, the U.S. Air Force named the 23 companies that will carry out its $12.5 billion network modernization effort, while a domestic nuclear company agreed to help build the first small modular reactor nuclear power plant in Africa. ​​​​These are Law360's most noteworthy government contracts for August 2024.

  • August 30, 2024

    RTX Reaches $200M Deal Over Export Control Violations

    RTX Corp. has reached a $200 million settlement with the U.S. Department of State to resolve violations of export control rules, including sending controlled defense items and data to China, the agency announced Friday.

  • August 29, 2024

    Airline Ducks Liquidated Damages In Military Leave Suit

    A class of pilots accusing American Airlines of violating the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 by denying pay for time spent on military leave can't seek liquidated damages, given a lack of evidence that the airline knew it was breaking the law, a Pennsylvania federal judge ruled Thursday.

  • August 29, 2024

    CFPB Fines NewDay $2.25M Over VA Home Loan Practices

    The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau levied a $2.25 million fine against NewDay Financial LLC on Thursday for allegedly deceiving active-duty service members and veterans seeking cash-out refinance loans on their home mortgages.

  • August 29, 2024

    FCC Rolls Out Rules For Drones' Use Of 5 GHz Band

    The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday announced it had adopted initial rules for the use of drones in the 5 gigahertz band by allowing operators to obtain frequency assignments.

  • August 29, 2024

    GAO Backs VA Cancellation Of Air-Unit Installation Deal

    The U.S. Government Accountability Office is supporting the Department of Veterans Affairs' decision to cancel a solicitation that lacked proper instructions to bidders, thereby denying a protest from a Maryland business that had its contract canceled.

  • August 29, 2024

    Judge Asked To OK Settlement For Halliburton CERCLA Suit

    Halliburton and more than 30 companies seeking to recover costs associated with the cleanup of long-accumulated contamination at a Superfund site have struck a settlement in California federal court in an attempt to bring to a close a decade of litigation.

  • August 29, 2024

    Under-The-Radar Gov't Contracts Cases: Midyear Report

    Alongside blockbuster rulings so far this year shaking up the federal contracting landscape are lower-profile decisions with noteworthy legal outcomes, addressing issues such as when late submissions matter, when they don't, and whether local wage requirements can affect federal contracts. Here are four lower-profile decisions from the first half of 2024 with significant legal findings that could impact federal contractors.

  • August 28, 2024

    ACLU Offers Harris 'Roadmap' To Rein In Gov't Surveillance

    The American Civil Liberties Union is urging the Democratic presidential nominee to stop what the group calls exploitation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act by the federal government by ending unwarranted surveillance of Americans if she wins office in November.

  • August 28, 2024

    Co. Pushed Director To Work With Broken Fingers, Suit Says

    A military contractor forced a department head to work with broken fingers and a spinal injury following a serious fall, refused to provide short-term disability leave paperwork and ultimately fired him when he raised concerns, according to a complaint filed in Connecticut federal court.

  • August 28, 2024

    Contractor Drops Fed. Circ. Challenge To Registration Rule

    The federal government and a joint venture on Wednesday agreed to end a Federal Circuit appeal that questioned whether the U.S. State Department unfairly disqualified the company from a security contract over its failure to register on the contracting database.

  • August 28, 2024

    Cooley, Latham Steer Defense Co.'s $80M VC Funding Round

    Parry Labs announced Wednesday that the Virginia-based defense technology company, represented by Cooley LLP, has raised $80 million in its first institutional investment round fueled by Capitol Meridian Partners, represented by Latham & Watkins LLP, and other venture capital firms.

  • August 28, 2024

    2nd Circ. Affirms Ex-GE Engineer's Espionage Conviction

    A General Electric Co. engineer convicted of conspiracy to commit economic espionage lost his bid Wednesday to undo his conviction, with a three-judge panel on the Second Circuit affirming the judgment of the New York district court.

  • August 28, 2024

    Russia Seeks Pause On $5B Naftogaz Award Suit

    Russia thinks that the D.C. federal court overseeing a bid by Ukraine's state-owned oil and gas company to enforce a $5 billion arbitral award over the seizure of its Crimean assets ought to pause the matter while proceedings in the Netherlands play out.

  • August 28, 2024

    Taliban And Iran Ordered To Pay $144.7B For 9/11 Attacks

    A New York federal court issued judgments requiring the Taliban and the Iranian government to pay $144.7 billion to thousands of people who were directly injured or lost loved ones in the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

  • August 28, 2024

    Congress Urged To Address Trump Financial Conflicts

    After possible financial conflicts of interest caused consternation during President Donald Trump's first term, an ethics watchdog is calling for a series of legislative reforms to prevent them from recurring if he's reelected.

  • August 28, 2024

    Top Gov't Contracts Cases To Watch In The 2nd Half Of 2024

    Federal courts in the latter half of 2024 are expected to scrutinize a strict federal registration requirement for contractors and decide whether whistleblower False Claims Act cases are constitutional, potentially affecting a key federal anti-fraud tool. Here, Law360 previews key disputes that government contractors should have on their radar in the second half of the year.

  • August 27, 2024

    Exec To Pay SEC $190K Over Macquarie Insider Trading Claim

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission says a New York man who used inside information he learned as a Macquarie Group investor relations executive to profit from a then-pending deal to sell its airport services business to KKR & Co. has agreed to pay nearly $190,000 to settle the agency's claims that he violated securities laws. ​

  • August 27, 2024

    Electric Jet Co. Grounds Investor Suit Over SPAC Disclosures

    Investors in German aerospace company Lilium have failed to adequately allege that the company lied about its electric jet production efforts as it went through a $3.3 billion go-public merger with a special purpose acquisition company, a Florida federal judge determined in permanently tossing the suit.

  • August 27, 2024

    Navy Shipbuilder Pleads Guilty To Accounting Fraud

    A shipbuilder that contracts with the U.S. Navy pled guilty Tuesday to accounting fraud as part of a settlement to resolve criminal and civil investigations.

  • August 27, 2024

    Sig Sauer Shouldn't Get Retrial, Says Winner Of $2M Verdict

    Sig Sauer Inc. shouldn't get a new trial, said a man who won a $2.35 million jury verdict in his suit alleging that a defect in his P320 pistol caused him to accidentally shoot himself, telling a Georgia federal court Monday that the gunmaker comes nowhere close to showing any error.

  • August 27, 2024

    Admiral Seeks Bribery Trial Separate From Contractors

    A retired U.S. Navy admiral  accused of accepting bribes from two contractors is pushing a Washington, D.C., federal court to sever his trial from theirs, saying the pair appeared poised to pin any alleged misconduct on him.

  • August 27, 2024

    SpaceX, T-Mobile Seek Speedy Action On Mobile 'Dead Zones'

    SpaceX and T-Mobile last week continued to push the Federal Communications Commission to approve Starlink's planned direct-to-cellular service in light of the agency's approval of rules allowing satellite companies to join with terrestrial mobile providers to fill gaps in wireless service.

Expert Analysis

  • How Harsher Penalties For AI Crimes May Work In Practice

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    With recent pronouncements from the U.S. Department of Justice that prosecutors may seek sentencing enhancements for crimes committed using artificial intelligence, defense counsel should understand how the sentencing guidelines and statutory factors will come into play, says Jennie VonCannon at Crowell & Moring.

  • Document Retention Best Practices To Lower Litigation Risks

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    As new technologies emerge and terabytes of data can be within the purview of a single discovery request, businesses small and large should take four document management steps to effectively minimize risks of litigation and discovery sanctions long before litigation ensues, says Kimbrilee Weber at Norris McLaughlin.

  • Series

    Riding My Peloton Bike Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Using the Peloton platform for cycling, running, rowing and more taught me that fostering a mind-body connection will not only benefit you physically and emotionally, but also inspire stamina, focus, discipline and empathy in your legal career, says Christopher Ward at Polsinelli.

  • Compliance Steps After ABA White Collar Crime Conference

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    Senior law enforcement officials’ statements this month at the American Bar Association's white collar crime conference suggest government enforcement efforts this year will increasingly focus on whistleblower incentives, artificial intelligence and data protection, and companies will need to update their compliance programs accordingly, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

  • Spartan Arbitration Tactics Against Well-Funded Opponents

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    Like the ancient Spartans who held off a numerically superior Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae, trial attorneys and clients faced with arbitration against an opponent with a bigger war chest can take a strategic approach to create a pass to victory, say Kostas Katsiris and Benjamin Argyle at Venable.

  • What 2 Years Of Ukraine-Russia Conflict Can Teach Cos.

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    A few key legal lessons for the global business community since Russia's invasion of Ukraine could help protect global commerce in times of future conflict, including how to respond to disparate trade restrictions and sanctions, navigate war-related contract disputes, and protect against heightened cybersecurity risks, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Risks Of Nonmutual Offensive Collateral Estoppel In MDLs

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    After the Supreme Court declined to review the Sixth Circuit's ruling in the E.I. DuPont de Nemours & Co. personal injury litigation, nonmutual offensive collateral estoppel could show up in more MDLs, and transform the loss of a single MDL bellwether trial into a de facto classwide decision that binds thousands of other MDL cases, say Chantale Fiebig and Luke Sullivan at Weil Gotshal.

  • Wesco Ch. 11 Ruling Marks Shift In Uptier Claim Treatment

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    A Texas bankruptcy court’s recent decision in In re: Wesco Aircraft Holdings leaves nonparticipating creditors with a road map to litigate to judgment non-pro rata liability management transactions, and foreshadows that bankruptcy courts may no longer be a friendly forum for these types of claims, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • Takeaways From Groundbreaking Data Transfer Order

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    A recent first-of-its-kind executive order and related proposed rulemaking lay the groundwork for important outbound U.S. data protections, but they may have unintended consequences related to the types of data and the subjects within their scope, say attorneys at Kirkland.

  • FARA Enforcement May Soon Be In The Halls Of Higher Ed

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    Given Congress’ increased attention to rising foreign influence on U.S. college campuses, the U.S. Department of Justice may soon turn the Foreign Agents Registration Act spotlight on educational institutions and groups, which will need to review their possible obligations under the statute, says Tessa Capeloto at Wiley.

  • What Recent Study Shows About AI's Promise For Legal Tasks

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    Amid both skepticism and excitement about the promise of generative artificial intelligence in legal contexts, the first randomized controlled trial studying its impact on basic lawyering tasks shows mixed but promising results, and underscores the need for attorneys to proactively engage with AI, says Daniel Schwarcz at University of Minnesota Law School.

  • How The FAA Is Embracing Simplified Flight Controls

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    The Federal Aviation Administration's openness to approving simplified flight controls as part of its forthcoming refresh of regulations governing light-sport aircraft and sport pilot certificates is valuable and welcome — and the same approach can be brought to general aviation aircraft, says Paul Alp at Adams and Reese.

  • Making The Pitch For A Civil Resolution In A Criminal Case

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    Even without the depth of visibility into prosecutorial decision making offered by special counsel Robert Hur’s recently released report, defense counsel may be able to make the case for civil resolutions of criminal investigations while minimizing a potential negative response from prosecutors to such an argument, says Bill Athanas at Bradley Arant.

  • Litigation Inspiration: A Source Of Untapped Fulfillment

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    As increasing numbers of attorneys struggle with stress and mental health issues, business litigators can find protection against burnout by remembering their important role in society — because fulfillment in one’s work isn’t just reserved for public interest lawyers, say Bennett Rawicki and Peter Bigelow at Hilgers Graben.

  • Series

    Skiing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    A lifetime of skiing has helped me develop important professional skills, and taught me that embracing challenges with a spirit of adventure can allow lawyers to push boundaries, expand their capabilities and ultimately excel in their careers, says Andrea Przybysz at Tucker Ellis.

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