Aerospace & Defense

Expert Analysis

• Aviation Watch: Why Boeing-Airbus Trade War May End Soon

  

  The prolonged trade war between Boeing and Airbus — and between the U.S. and the European Union — has led to economic losses on all sides, but various factors, including a less adversarial attitude from the Biden administration, could lead to a resolution soon, says Alan Hoffman, a retired attorney and aviation expert.

• 7 Tips For Predeposition Meetings Under New Federal Rule

  

  Attorneys can use a new predeposition meet-and-confer obligation for federal litigation — taking effect Tuesday — to better understand and narrow the topics of planned testimony, and more clearly outline the scope of any discovery disputes, says James Wagstaffe at Wagstaffe von Loewenfeldt Busch.

• Ethics Reminders As Employees Move To Or From Gov't

  

  Many organizations are making plans for executives to go into government jobs, or for government officials to join a private sector team, but they must understand the many ethics rules that can put a damper on just how valuable the former employee or new hire can be, say Scott Thomas and Jennifer Carrier at Blank Rome.

• 3 Fed. Circ. IP Cases For Gov't Contractors To Watch

  

  Nathaniel Castellano at Arnold & Porter discusses recent oral arguments at the Federal Circuit in three cases — Boeing v. Secretary of the Air Force, Bitmanagement Software v. U.S. and Harmonia Holdings v. U.S. — and the broad implications the decisions will have on government contractors and agencies dealing in proprietary data and software.

• A Key To Helping Clients Make Better Decisions During Crisis

  

  As the pandemic brings a variety of legal stresses for businesses, lawyers must understand the emotional dynamic of a crisis and the particular energy it produces to effectively fulfill their role as advisers, say Meredith Parfet and Aaron Solomon at Ravenyard Group.

• Expect Major Changes In Aerospace And Defense Under Biden

  

  President-elect Joe Biden is expected to significantly shift aerospace and defense industry priorities, revoke certain Trump administration government contractor policies, strengthen "Buy American" requirements, and increase use of defense and NASA budgetary authority to combat climate change, say attorneys at Hogan Lovells.

• Mitigating Supply Chain Risks Related To Uighur Forced Labor

  

  In light of recent U.S. actions concerning China’s purported forced labor of Uighurs — an ethnic minority long targeted by the Chinese government — companies should conduct human rights due diligence, implement grievance mechanisms to capture abuses in their supply chains, and review supplier contracts, says Betsy Popken at Orrick.

• Ethics Considerations For Law Firms Implementing AI

  

  Richard Finkelman and Yihua Astle at Berkeley Research Group discuss the ethical and bias concerns law firms must address when implementing artificial intelligence-powered applications for recruiting, conflict identification and client counseling.

• Gov't Contractors Can Promote Diversity Despite Trump Order

  

  While federal contractors are required to comply with the Trump administration’s recent ban on certain racial sensitivity trainings, it’s likely that President-elect Joe Biden will overturn the restrictions after taking office, and there are many ways to advance diversity and inclusion agendas in the meantime, says Allison Powers at Barack Ferrazzano.

• Trends In Fiscal 2020 Bid Protests Sustained By GAO: Part 2

  

  Many bid protests sustained by the U.S. Government Accountability Office in fiscal 2020 involved emerging issues, including conflicts of interest, corrective actions, solicitation challenges and eligibility of awardees — concerns that will continue to arise, say Joseph Berger and Thomas Mason at Thompson Hine.

• Picking The Right Location And Tools For Virtual Courtrooms

  

  Attorneys should consider the pros and cons of participating in virtual court proceedings from home versus their law firm offices, and whether they have the right audio, video and team communication tools for their particular setup, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

• Trends In Fiscal 2020 Bid Protests Sustained By GAO: Part 1

  

  A review of bid protest grounds most frequently sustained by the U.S. Government Accountability Office in fiscal 2020 shows the GAO is unlikely to question agency judgment over solicitations, but is willing to reconsider an agency's application of mandatory criteria in evaluations, say Joseph Berger and Thomas Mason at Thompson Hine.

• Beware Atty Ethics Rules When Reporting COVID-19 Fraud

  

  Attorneys considering blowing the whistle on False Claims Act violations by recipients of COVID-19 relief may face a number of ethical constraints on their ability to disclose client information and file qui tam actions, say Breon Peace and Jennifer Kennedy Park at Cleary.

• Looking For Judicial Activists? Check The Footnotes

  

  U.S. Supreme Court nominees typically face intense questioning over potential judicial activism, but a better way to gauge judges' activist tendencies may be to look at the footnotes in their opinions, say Christopher Collier at Hawkins Parnell and Michael Arndt at Rohan Law.

• Best Practices For Legal Technology Adoption

  

  The pandemic has accelerated the need to improve the practice of law through technology, but law firms and in-house legal departments must first ensure they have employee buy-in and well-defined processes for new digital tools, say Dan Broderick at BlackBoiler and Daryl Shetterly at Orrick.