Aerospace & Defense

Expert Analysis

• Opinion

  Congress Should End High Court's Military Immunity Doctrine

  

  Passing legislation to override the widely derided U.S. Supreme Court precedent that precludes members of the military from suing the U.S. should be a major priority for Congress, especially in light of the court's recent refusal to review a former West Point cadet's case alleging rape, says Carol Thompson at the Federal Practice Group.

• What UK's New Merger Controls Mean For Private Equity

  

  Expansive notification and approval requirements under the U.K.’s new merger control regime — the National Security and Investment Act — along with a lack of clarity about when they go into effect, pose unique challenges for private equity sponsors, as well as their investors and portfolio companies, say attorneys at Kirkland.

• Judge's Rebuke Of Mass. AG Has Lessons For All Attorneys

  

  A Massachusetts federal judge’s recent rebuke of the state Attorney General’s Office for refusing to respond to discovery requests in Alliance for Automotive Innovation v. Healey highlights six important considerations for attorneys who want to avoid the dreaded benchslap, say Alison Eggers and Dallin Wilson at Seyfarth.  

• Opinion

  Federal Minimum Wage Should Be Indexed For Local Markets

  

  The Biden administration should implement an indexed minimum wage based on the average wages in each local labor market instead of mandating a $15 federal minimum wage in all metro areas, which could grossly distort service sector compensation and discourage bidding on federal contracts, says Stephen Bronars at Edgeworth Economics.

• Font Considerations To Give Your Legal Briefs An Edge

  

  Following the D.C. Circuit’s recent notice discouraging use of the font Garamond in legal briefs, Jason Steed at Kilpatrick looks at typeface requirements and preferences in appellate courts across the country, and how practitioners can score a few extra brief-writing points with typography.

• How Biden's First 100 Days Will Affect Gov't Contractors

  

  Joseph Berger and Thomas Mason at Thompson Hine examine the significant opportunities for government contractors arising from actions during the first 100 days of the Biden administration, which set the stage for unprecedented investment in national infrastructure, domestic manufacturing, research and development, clean energy, pandemic response and economic recovery.

• Make Profitability Management Part Of Your Law Firm Culture

  

  As the legal industry continues to change in the post-pandemic world, law firms should adapt to client demands by constantly measuring and managing the profitability of their services, says Joseph Altonji at LawVision.

• How $15 Minimum Wage Order May Affect Gov't Contractors

  

  Attorneys at Arnold & Porter examine the potential impacts of President Joe Biden’s minimum wage increase for federal government contractors and discuss whether contractors will be able to recover additional labor costs associated with the increase.

• Bid Protest Spotlight: Scope, Evaluation Criterion, Privity

  

  In this month's bid protest roundup, Sandeep Nandivada and Markus Speidel at MoFo look at April U.S. Government Accountability Office and U.S. Court of Federal Claims decisions concerning proposed labor categories outside the scope of vendor schedule contracts, use of unstated evaluation criterion, and whether co-prime contractor privity supports standing to protest.

• 4 Trends In Discoverability Of Litigation Funding Documents

  

  Recent rulings shed light on how courts and international arbitration tribunals decide if litigation funding materials are discoverable and reaffirm best practices that attorneys should follow when communicating with funders, say Justin Maleson at Longford Capital and Michele Slachetka and Christian Plummer at Jenner & Block.

• 7 Lessons For Young Lawyers Starting Their Careers

  

  This year's law graduates and other young attorneys must recognize that the practice of law tests and rewards different skills and characteristics than law school, and that what makes a lawyer valuable changes over time, says Vernon Winters, retired partner at Sidley.

• Opinion

  Biden Admin.'s Climate Strategy Should Include Insurance Innovations

  

  To successfully meet the Biden administration's climate-related goals, the federal government must fill gaps in state regulation of environmental insurance, and help create an insurance framework that incentivizes and facilitates carbon impact reduction in four key areas, say Michael Hill and Paul Tetenbaum at Blue Dot Climate Insurance.

• The Pandemic's Bright Spots For Lawyers Who Are Parents

  

  The COVID-19 crisis has allowed lawyers to hone remote advocacy strategies and effectively represent clients with minimal travel — abilities that have benefited working parents and should be utilized long after the pandemic is over, says Chelsea Loughran at Wolf Greenfield.

• Economic Sanctions And Export Controls: A Q1 Update

  

  Attorneys at Kirkland discuss first-quarter developments in U.S. export controls and economic sanctions and what they may indicate about the Biden administration's national security and foreign policy agenda. 

• Opinion

  Revise Mansfield Diversity Mandates To Also Benefit Veterans

  

  The well-intentioned efforts and salutary purposes of the legal industry's Mansfield Rule diversity metric are tainted by the Diversity Lab initiative's omission of veterans, who are underrepresented at large law firms and entitled to advantageous treatment based on more than 200 years of public policy, says Robert Redmond at McGuireWoods.