Aerospace & Defense

  • September 27, 2024

    Amazon Hit With $30.5M Verdict In Delaware Patent Trial

    A Delaware federal jury decided Friday that Amazon Web Services infringed two computer network patents that were once owned by Boeing, and told the tech giant to pay $30.5 million in damages.

  • September 27, 2024

    Life Sciences Firms Energize IPO Market As Recovery Builds

    Initial public offerings are closing the year's third quarter on an upswing, led mostly by pre-revenue drug developers and select large companies that are seizing opportunities in friendlier capital markets buoyed by interest-rate cuts, generating momentum that experts say could carry over into next year.

  • September 27, 2024

    LA Plane Parts Maker Hits Ch. 11 With At Least $10M In Debt

    A California-based aircraft parts maker, Skylock Industries, filed for bankruptcy reporting between $10 million to $50 million in both assets and liability as it faces litigation alleging that it owes half a million dollars in past-due rent, as well as a lawsuit seeking to collect a finder's fee on a $9 million loan.

  • September 27, 2024

    GAO Backs DOD Rebuke To Bidder's Spreadsheet Mistake

    The U.S. Government Accountability Office backed the Pentagon's decision to deny a spot on a $4 billion deal for combating weapons of mass destruction to a contractor that submitted an incorrect spreadsheet, saying the Pentagon wasn't required to fix the mistake.

  • September 27, 2024

    Lawyer Wields Blank Rome Atty Voicemail To Bolster DQ Bid

    An attorney who is suing three lawyers from Blank Rome LLP and has asked a federal court to disqualify the firm's other attorneys from representing their colleagues — alleging they contacted one of her witnesses — told the court Friday she accessed a phone message that strengthens her arguments.

  • September 27, 2024

    Ault Disruptive To Dissolve After Failing To Ink SPAC Deal

    Blank check company Ault Disruptive Technologies Corp. said on Friday that it plans to dissolve and liquidate because it will not be able to complete an initial business combination before Dec. 20.

  • September 27, 2024

    Gov't Contracts Of The Month: Warships And Lunar Relays

    In September, the U.S. Navy shored up its fleet, issuing a combined $16.35 billion order for amphibious warships and oilers, while NASA struck a new $4.8 billion lunar communications deal. Here are Law360's most noteworthy government contracts for September.

  • September 26, 2024

    GAO Faults Amentum For Not Being Forthright In Contract Bid

    Amentum Services Inc. got no support from the U.S. Government Accountability Office for its protest over getting rebuffed on an $840 federal contract in Iraq, with the watchdog finding that two of the company's subcontractors weren't licensed to work in Iraq.

  • September 26, 2024

    Helicopter-Maker Claims Supplier Had 'Reliability Issues'

    A former Fort Worth, Texas-based Bell Helicopter Textron Inc. engineer claimed a supplier at the center of a $100 million trade secrets lawsuit delivered parts that had "reliability issues," saying Thursday during a trial in Texas state court that the supplier had long-standing problems.

  • September 26, 2024

    FCC Opens Airwaves For NGSO Fixed Satellite Services

    The Federal Communications Commission agreed Thursday to set aside a swath of spectrum in the 17 gigahertz band for non-geostationary orbit fixed satellite services, a move the agency says will advance competition and high-speed connectivity.

  • September 26, 2024

    4th Circ. Judge Thrashes Vets' Argument In Citibank Fee Suit

    A Fourth Circuit judge on Thursday ripped military members' argument that they must be allowed under a military-members-lending law to proceed in federal court with a proposed class action alleging Citibank charged illegal fees, with the judge stressing that the statute is silent on forbidding arbitration.

  • September 26, 2024

    Air Force Urged To Cut Back On Using Chinese Suppliers

    Republican lawmakers have asked the U.S. Air Force to cut back on using suppliers from China for "critical weapons platforms," arguing that using Chinese suppliers poses a serious national security risk and empowers China to defeat the U.S. without the need for armed conflict.

  • September 26, 2024

    Dallas VA Center Overpaid $3.7M For Wheelchair Services

    A Texas veterans medical center will have to recover $3.7 million it overpaid a contractor for wheelchair transportation services between 2022 and 2023, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General said Wednesday.

  • September 26, 2024

    Amazon Worker Gets Trial In Military Leave Suit

    A Washington federal judge ejected one worker from a suit accusing Amazon of demoting or firing workers who took time off for military service, but teed up for trial another worker's claim alleging he was removed from consideration for a promotion after he said he was going to be deployed.

  • September 25, 2024

    In-House Counsel To Play Central Role At AI Cos., VCs Say

    Venture capital firms expect in-house counsel at artificial intelligence companies to play a bigger role in their businesses due to regulatory uncertainties around AI, while a professor who helped pioneer the technology warned that transparency of commercial AI businesses should be "top of mind," attorneys heard at the seventh annual Berkeley Law AI Institute Wednesday.

  • September 25, 2024

    Defense Contractor Hit With $2.25M Fine For Bribery Scheme

    A California federal judge issued a $2.25 million fine to a defense company for its role in a bribery scheme through which a former executive bribed an ex-Navy contracting official in exchange for lucrative contracts.

  • September 25, 2024

    Navajo Nation Inks $31M Deal With Bitco For Veteran Housing

    The Navajo Nation said it has signed a $31 million contract with tribally owned Bitco Corp. to build 95 homes for Navajo veterans, using funds provided by President Joe Biden's American Rescue Plan Act.

  • September 25, 2024

    Terrorism Victims Sue For Share Of $4.3B Binance Plea

    The U.S. government must put the $4.3 billion it obtained in its money laundering and sanctions violations case against Binance toward a federal fund for victims of state-sponsored terrorism, a new lawsuit in D.C. federal court alleges.

  • September 25, 2024

    Blank Rome Faces DQ Bid Over Alleged Tampering

    An attorney suing three lawyers from Blank Rome LLP wants the firm's other attorneys disqualified from representing their colleagues, accusing them of improperly contacting a plaintiff's expert witness to intimidate him into no longer participating in the case.

  • September 25, 2024

    FCC Closer To Opening Airwaves, But Auctions Still In Limbo

    President Joe Biden's communications regulators are still pushing to get prized spectrum into the hands of private companies, but the window for regaining legal authority to auction the airwaves this year will soon close, and the next White House administration will face challenges too.

  • September 25, 2024

    Veteran Federal Prosecutor Joins King & Spalding In Texas

    King & Spalding LLP has strengthened its government investigations, cybersecurity and special matters offerings with a counsel in Austin, Texas, who led efforts to combat cybercrime and pandemic-era fraud during his more than 15 years as a federal prosecutor.

  • September 24, 2024

    Helicopter Maker Skirted FAA Requirements, Jury Hears

    Fort Worth-based Bell Helicopter Textron Inc. used a former vendor's trade secrets to skirt the need for regulatory approval, a jury heard in Texas state court Tuesday, allegedly avoiding requirements set by the Federal Aviation Administration as the company pulled the rug out from under its old vendor.

  • September 24, 2024

    Ukraine Oil Co. Says Russia Can't Buy Time In $5B Award Suit

    Ukraine's state-owned oil and gas company has asked a D.C. federal court not to pause its lawsuit to enforce a $5 billion arbitral award against Russia while set-aside proceedings in the Netherlands play out, arguing that the Kremlin is just stalling.

  • September 24, 2024

    Neurosurgeon Deems Judge Newman's Brain 'Entirely Normal'

    A third doctor has found that suspended U.S. Circuit Judge Pauline Newman, 97, is not cognitively impaired and that there's no reason to keep her off the bench, according to a report released by her attorneys Tuesday.

  • September 24, 2024

    Amazon Shareholders Try To Save Suit Over Blue Origin Deal

    Stockholders who sued Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and the company's board in Delaware's Court of Chancery for "blindly" approving a multibillion-dollar, Bezos-controlled launch contract for a new satellite-based internet service struggled for enough altitude Tuesday to clear defense dismissal challenges.

Expert Analysis

  • 4 Takeaways From Biden's Crypto Mining Divestment Order

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    A May 13 executive order prohibiting the acquisition of real estate by a foreign investor on national security grounds — an enforcement first — shows the importance of understanding how the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States might profile cross-border transactions, even those that are non-notified, say attorneys at Kirkland.

  • 3 Employer Lessons From NLRB's Complaint Against SpaceX

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    Severance agreements traditionally have included nondisparagement and nondisclosure provisions as a matter of course — but a recent National Labor Relations Board complaint against SpaceX underscores the ongoing efforts to narrow severance agreements at the state and federal levels, say attorneys at Williams & Connolly.

  • Insurer Quota-Sharing Lessons From $112M Bad Faith Verdict

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    In Indiana GRQ v. American Guarantee and Liability Insurance, an Indiana federal jury recently issued a landmark $112 million bad faith verdict, illustrating why insurers must understand the interplay between bad faith law and quota-sharing before entering into these relatively new arrangements, say Jason Reichlyn and Christopher Sakauye at Dykema. 

  • Exploring An Alternative Model Of Litigation Finance

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    A new model of litigation finance, most aptly described as insurance-backed litigation funding, differs from traditional funding in two key ways, and the process of securing it involves three primary steps, say Bob Koneck, Christopher Le Neve Foster and Richard Butters at Atlantic Global Risk LLC.

  • Bid Protest Spotlight: Unwitting Disclosure, Agency Deference

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    Roke Iko at MoFo examines two U.S. Court of Federal Claims decisions highlighting factors to consider before filing a protest alleging Procurement Integrity Act violations, and a decision from the U.S. Government Accountability Office about the capacity of an agency to interpret its own solicitation terms.

  • Global Bribery Probes Are Complicating FCPA Compliance

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    The recent rise in collaboration between the U.S. Department of Justice and foreign authorities in bribery enforcement can not only affect companies' legal exposure as resolution approaches vary by country, but also the decision of when and whether to disclose Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations to the DOJ, say Samantha Badlam and Catherine Conroy at Ropes & Gray.

  • Series

    Teaching Yoga Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Being a yoga instructor has helped me develop my confidence and authenticity, as well as stress management and people skills — all of which have crossed over into my career as an attorney, says Laura Gongaware at Clyde & Co.

  • A Vision For Economic Clerkships In The Legal System

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    As courts handle increasingly complex damages analyses involving vast amounts of data, an economic clerkship program — integrating early-career economists into the judicial system — could improve legal outcomes and provide essential training to clerks, say Mona Birjandi at Data for Decisions and Matt Farber at Secretariat.

  • Action Steps To Address New Restrictions On Outbound Data

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    Companies should immediately assess all their data-based operations so they can consider strategies to effectively mitigate new compliance risks brought on by recently implemented transaction restrictions, including a Justice Department proposal and landmark data legislation, say attorneys at Wiley.

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Recent Rulings On Text Message Data

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    Electronically stored information on cellphones, and in particular text messages, can present unique litigation challenges, and recent court decisions demonstrate that counsel must carefully balance what data should be preserved, collected, reviewed and produced, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • 'Fat Leonard' Case Shows High Bar For Rescinding Guilty Plea

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    Prosecutors’ recent move in the “Fat Leonard” bribery case, supporting several defendants’ motions to withdraw their guilty pleas, is extremely unusual – and its contrast with other prosecutions demonstrates that the procedural safeguards at plea hearings are far from enough, says Sara Kropf at Kropf Moseley.

  • How New Rule Would Change CFIUS Enforcement Powers

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    Before the May 15 comment deadline, companies may want to weigh in on proposed regulatory changes to enforcement and mitigation tools at the disposal of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, including broadened subpoena powers, difficult new mitigation timelines and higher maximum penalties, say attorneys at Venable.

  • 8 Questions To Ask Before Final CISA Breach Reporting Rule

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    The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s recently proposed cyber incident reporting requirements for critical infrastructure entities represent the overall approach CISA will take in its final rule, so companies should be asking key compliance questions now and preparing for a more complicated reporting regime, say Arianna Evers and Shannon Mercer at WilmerHale.

  • Series

    Swimming Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Years of participation in swimming events, especially in the open water, have proven to be ideal preparation for appellate arguments in court — just as you must put your trust in the ocean when competing in a swim event, you must do the same with the judicial process, says John Kulewicz at Vorys.

  • Best Practices For Space Security In Our Connected World

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    NASA's recently published space security guide is another indication that cyber-resilience has become a global theme for the space and satellite sector, as well as a useful reference for companies and organizations reviewing their cybersecurity frameworks or looking to partner with the U.S. agency, says Hayley Blyth at Bird & Bird.

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