Aerospace & Defense

  • August 12, 2024

    SEC, SolarWinds In Settlement Talks After Cyber Suit Trimmed

    Software company SolarWinds Corp. is in talks to settle a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission cybersecurity lawsuit after a Manhattan federal judge dismissed the majority of claims over a 2020 data breach, the parties said Monday.

  • August 12, 2024

    Protest Tossed After Navy Cancels $12M Software Deal

    A Court of Federal Claims judge has dismissed a technology company's protest over the U.S. Navy's alleged violation of a federal preference for commercial products when it issued a sole-source software contract, finding cancellation of the deal made the dispute effectively moot.

  • August 12, 2024

    Nokia Resets Merger Review Clock For $2.3B Infinera Deal

    Nokia has agreed to give the U.S. Department of Justice more time to review its planned $2.3 billion purchase of Silicon Valley optical-transmission equipment maker Infinera for potential competition concerns.

  • August 12, 2024

    DC Circ. Revives Businessman's Suit Over Mueller Report

    A Georgian-American businessman discussed in special counsel Robert Mueller's report on Russian interference in the 2016 election can pursue claims that inaccuracies in the report harmed his reputation and business dealings, the D.C. Circuit said Friday.

  • August 09, 2024

    DoD Engineer Arrested For Taking Home 'Top Secret' Docs

    A U.S. Department of Defense civilian employee accused of taking thousands of pages from his workplace was arrested early Friday morning, according to an affidavit that also reveals he was en route to Mexico for a fishing trip and that "stacks of papers" with top secret documents were found in his Virgnia home.

  • August 09, 2024

    Camp Lejeune Plaintiffs Complain They Can't Get Gov't Docs

    Veterans and family members who claim they were injured due to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune say the government has refused to hand over "troves of discoverable documents" and are urging a federal court to force the government to comply.

  • August 09, 2024

    Ex-Mozambique Finance Minister Convicted For $2B Scheme

    Mozambique's former finance minister was convicted of wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy charges in connection with his role in the $2 billion "tuna bonds" scandal, prosecutors announced.

  • August 09, 2024

    Appeals Board Says BAE Not Owed $21M Pension Cost Claim

    The Armed Services Board of Contract Appeals rejected BAE Systems' $20.8 million appeal over costs related to withdrawing from a union pension plan at the end of a U.S. Air Force contract, saying the contract did not cover those costs.

  • August 09, 2024

    5th Circ. Blocks Transfer Of SpaceX NLRB Suit

    The Fifth Circuit blocked an order transferring SpaceX's first constitutional challenge to the National Labor Relations Board's powers and protections while it considers whether the district judge wrongly withheld an injunction blocking an agency prosecution.

  • August 09, 2024

    Boeing, Ethiopian Airlines Families Float April Trial Lineup

    Boeing and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crash victims' families told an Illinois federal judge Friday that they're prepping the next six cases for an April trial, but disagreed over whether a Canadian resident who lost five family members in the crash should be slotted in for a standalone trial in March.

  • August 09, 2024

    Justices Urged To Turn Away $1.3B Sovereign Immunity Case

    A commercial division of India's space agency is urging the U.S. Supreme Court not to revisit a Ninth Circuit decision refusing to enforce a $1.3 billion arbitral award issued to a satellite communications company, arguing that the jurisdictional question raised in the petition has been long settled.

  • August 09, 2024

    Former Syrian Prison Chief Accused Of US Immigration Fraud

    Federal grand jurors in California have charged a former Syrian official with covering up his time running a Syrian prison where political dissidents were physically abused on U.S. immigration applications.

  • August 09, 2024

    GAO Says Alleged Conflict Didn't Affect $795M Navy Deal

    The U.S. Government Accountability Office has denied Amentum Services Inc.'s protest over a $795.3 million U.S. Navy aircraft support contract, ruling the Navy properly found there was no conflict of interest stemming from the awardee's subcontractor hiring a former Navy official.

  • August 08, 2024

    Feds Say Tenn. Man Helped North Korea Via IT Worker Ploy

    Federal prosecutors say a Tennessee man schemed to get North Koreans hired for remote information technology positions at American and British companies, part of an effort to help generate revenue for North Korea's weapons program, according to an indictment unsealed Thursday.

  • August 08, 2024

    Camp Lejeune Toxic Water Judge Flags Pretrial 'Difficulties'

    A federal judge presiding over injury suits stemming from contaminated water at Camp Lejeune urged the federal government and plaintiffs' lawyers Thursday to resolve "ongoing difficulties" such as fact disputes ahead of bench trials, calling the parties' stipulations since the last status conference "less than robust."

  • August 08, 2024

    Maynard Nexsen Says No DQ Needed In Contractor Bias Case

    A former engineer suing defense contractor Parsons Corp. for discrimination pushed back Thursday against the company's bid to disqualify his counsel, Maynard Nexsen PC, for allegedly representing both parties at the same time, saying the firm did not actually represent Parsons.

  • August 08, 2024

    Watchdog Says Murky Goals, Boeing Hinder NASA Rocket

    NASA's $5 billion moon rocket project faces ongoing delays and cost overruns due to issues such as the agency dragging its feet on setting clear goals and quality control problems at key contractor Boeing, according to a report released Thursday.

  • August 08, 2024

    Delta's Boies Attys Slam CrowdStrike's 'Blame The Victim' Ploy

    Delta Air Lines' attorneys at Boies Schiller Flexner LLP on Thursday blasted CrowdStrike's "blame the victim" defense over last month's catastrophic global IT outage, and pledged to haul both the cybersecurity firm and Microsoft to court to recoup what Delta estimates to be over $500 million in revenue losses.

  • August 08, 2024

    FCC Takes Closer Look At Geolocation Plan For 900 MHz

    The Federal Communications Commission asked the public to weigh in on a geolocation company's bid for more airwaves in the lower 900-megahertz spectrum band for technologies to back up GPS.

  • August 08, 2024

    VC, PE Firm Says Chinese Co. Cost $150M SpaceX Investment

    A California-based venture capital and private equity firm has sued a Chinese company in California federal court, claiming Elon Musk's SpaceX rejected its planned $150 million investment after the Chinese company breached its promise to abide by strict confidentiality requirements and instead publicized its involvement in the planned investment.

  • August 08, 2024

    Rolls-Royce Removes 'Interim' From Unit GC's Title

    The new general counsel for the North American arm of United Kingdom-based defense aerospace company Rolls-Royce is a familiar face at the company, having most recently held the top lawyer position on an interim basis following the departure of the previous general counsel earlier this year.

  • August 07, 2024

    DOD Contractor Wants No Prison For Parts Sales From Turkey

    A Florida defense contractor who admitted to using a front company to supply critical military components that were made in Turkey asked Tuesday for a non-prison sentence, arguing that her participation in the scheme to defraud the U.S. Department of Defense was driven by financial desperation and a misplaced trust in those who ran the operation.

  • August 07, 2024

    Insurer Wants Bad Faith Claim Tossed In Russian Planes Suit

    HDI Global and underwriters of insurance policies on airplanes stranded in Russia have asked a Florida court to toss a bad faith claim by aircraft leasing company Avmax, arguing that bad faith only applies to coverage denials without a reasonable basis and that in this case there has been no denial, and it is "fairly debatable" whether coverage applies.

  • August 07, 2024

    6th Circ. Backs 20 Years For Chinese Spy Who Targeted GE

    The Sixth Circuit upheld a 20-year prison sentence for a Chinese spy convicted of espionage for trying to steal trade secrets from General Electric's GE Aviation unit, noting in an opinion unsealed Wednesday the punishment was reasonable as he continuously pursued the confidential information using sophisticated tradecraft processes for several years.

  • August 07, 2024

    NTSB Hearing Probes FAA Review, Boeing Quality Control

    The Federal Aviation Administration maintained that it is appropriately overseeing Boeing even after years of audits revealed multiple instances of unauthorized work on the aircraft builder's production line, as the National Transportation Safety Board on Wednesday scrutinized company safety and quality control programs during an investigation of the 737 Max 9 jet door plug blowout.

Expert Analysis

  • Opinion

    Stakeholder Amici Should Be Heard In Russian Trade Case

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    Although the U.S. Court of International Trade recently rejected U.S. Steel's amicus brief in NLMK Pennsylvania v. U.S., other industry stakeholders should seek to appear — and the court should allow it because additional perspectives will lead to a more informed ruling, say attorneys Jeffrey Shapiro and Michael Andrews.

  • Bid Protest Spotlight: Supplementation, Conversion, Rejection

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    In this month's bid protest roundup, Lyle Hedgecock and Michaela Thornton at MoFo discuss recent cases highlighting how the U.S. Government Accountability Office and the U.S. Court of Federal Claims consider supplementation of the record and an agency’s attempt to convert a sealed bid opportunity into a negotiated procurement, as well as an example of precedential drift.

  • US Cos. Must Guard Against Russian Diversion Of Goods

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    Amid allegations that Russia is end-running trade sanctions through the diversion of otherwise innocuous, everyday goods, U.S. industry involved in the manufacture or distribution of electric products must step up its customer and partner due diligence to avoid unwittingly facilitating the weapons proliferation cycle, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

  • Employee Experience Strategy Can Boost Law Firm Success

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    Amid continuing business uncertainty, law firms should consider adopting a holistic employee experience strategy — prioritizing consistency, targeting signature moments and leveraging measurement tools — to maximize productivity and profitability, says Haley Revel at Calibrate Consulting.

  • What Cos. Can Learn From 2023 Export Enforcement Report

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    A January report summarizing key actions and policy changes undertaken at the Office of Export Enforcement in 2023 is a valuable indicator of future government priorities and the factors companies should consider as they conduct export operations amid what may be a turbulent international trading environment in 2024, says Thaddeus McBride at Bass Berry.

  • Series

    Competing In Triathlons Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    While practicing law and competing in long-distance triathlons can make work and life feel unbalanced at times, participating in the sport has revealed important lessons about versatility, self-care and perseverance that apply to the office as much as they do the racecourse, says Laura Heusel at Butler Snow.

  • Mitigating Compliance And Litigation Risks Of Evolving Tech

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    Amid artificial intelligence and other technological advances, companies must prepare for the associated risks, including a growing suite of privacy regulations, enterprising class action theories and consumer protection challenges, and proliferating disclosure obligations, say attorneys at Eversheds Sutherland.

  • Where Justices Stand On Chevron Doctrine Post-Argument

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    Following recent oral argument at the U.S. Supreme Court, at least four justices appear to be in favor of overturning the long-standing Chevron deference, and three justices seem ready to uphold it, which means the ultimate decision may rest on Chief Justice John Roberts' vote, say Wayne D'Angelo and Zachary Lee at Kelley Drye.

  • GAO Decision Underscores Complexity Of '180-Day Rule'

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    The Government Accountability Office's ruling last month in Washington Business Dynamics, evaluating its eligibility for a small business set-aside contract, provides an important reminder for companies to stay vigilant of developments around the evolving "180-day rule" for submitting a proposal, say Stephen Ramaley and Adam Bartolanzo at Miles & Stockbridge.

  • Perspectives

    6 Practice Pointers For Pro Bono Immigration Practice

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    An attorney taking on their first pro bono immigration matter may find the law and procedures beguiling, but understanding key deadlines, the significance of individual immigration judges' rules and specialized aspects of the practice can help avoid common missteps, says Steven Malm at Haynes Boone.

  • Series

    ESG Around The World: Canada

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    In Canada, multiple statutes, regulations, common law and industry guidance address environmental, social and governance considerations, with debate over ESG in the business realm potentially growing on the horizon, say attorneys at Blakes.

  • Lessons From Country Singer's Personal Service Saga

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    Recent reports that country singer Luke Combs won a judgment against a Florida woman who didn’t receive notice of the counterfeit suit against her should serve as a reminder for attorneys on best practices for effectuating service by electronic means, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.

  • How US Companies Can Wield The New Foreign Bribery Law

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    U.S. companies operating in high-risk markets can use the Foreign Extortion Prevention Act that passed last month to their advantage both in preventing bribe demands and in negotiating with the Justice Department to prevent prosecution or to receive cooperation credit, say attorneys at Squire Patton.

  • How Gov't Use Of Suspension And Debarment Has Evolved

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    A recent report to Congress about federal agencies' suspension and debarment activities in fiscal years 2021 and 2022 shows exclusion remains a threat to government contracting businesses, though proactive engagement with suspending-and-debarring officials and alternate forms of redress are becoming more common, says David Robbins at Jenner & Block.

  • Protections May Exist For Cos. Affected By Red Sea Attacks

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    Companies whose ships or cargo have been affected by the evolving military conflict in the Red Sea, and the countries under whose flags those ships were traveling, may be able to seek redress through legal action against Yemen or Iran under certain international law mechanisms, say attorneys at Alston & Bird.

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