Aerospace & Defense

Expert Analysis

• 2 High Court Admiralty Cases Diverge On Common Law's Role

  

  Although the U.S. Supreme Court's recent admiralty ruling in Air & Liquid Systems v. DeVries indicates success in expanding the availability of common law protections to mariners, its decision in Dutra Group v. Batterton — decided just months later — counsels that new classes of remedies will now be harder to obtain under the common law, says Brian Maloney of Seward & Kissel.

• Recent IRS Notices Blow Favorable For Wind Projects

  

  Two recent IRS notices, adjusting the value of production tax credits and creating a safe harbor for certain U.S. Department of Defense-caused project delays, provide a small breath of fresh air for the onshore wind industry, says David Burton at Norton Rose.

• Remembering Justice Stevens As A Law Firm Leader

  

  Rothschild Barry's John Coffey, who joined Justice John Paul Stevens' law firm in 1965, shares what it was like to watch Justice Stevens practice law, mentor younger lawyers and land a malfunctioning plane.

• The Latest Executive Order On Buying American Has Teeth

  

  Earlier executive orders aimed at strengthening compliance with the Buy American Act were essentially position statements. Monday’s executive order differs, however, because it proposes a textual change to the Federal Acquisition Regulation, one that would have wide-ranging, potentially disruptive effects on government contractors, say attorneys at Covington.

• 5 Takeaways From DOJ Focus On Chinese Trade Secret Theft

  

  Since its official announcement of the China Initiative eight months ago, the U.S. Department of Justice has publicized the initiation of six new cases that include references to both trade secrets and China. These shed some light on DOJ and U.S. business priorities, says Sara O’Connell at Pillsbury.

• Answers To Key Legal Finance Ethics Questions

  

  While there is discussion in some quarters about new regulations on commercial legal finance, the hands-off approach taken by the majority of courts and legislatures is an implicit recognition that it is already sufficiently regulated, says Danielle Cutrona of Burford Capital.

• Federal Agencies Need A Uniform Record-Keeping Process

  

  The administrative record is very important to federal agency litigation — as showcased in last month's U.S. Supreme Court decision concerning the addition of a citizenship question to the 2020 census — yet there is no set of consistent principles to guide agencies in compiling these official records, say attorneys at WilmerHale.

• The Role Of Dictionaries In Last Term's High Court Decisions

  

  Since 32 of the 67 decisions issued by the U.S. Supreme Court during its October term cite dictionaries, it’s worth reviewing the opinions to learn which dictionaries the justices consulted and how they used them, say Bruce Wessel and Brian Weissenberg of Irell & Manella.

• How To Evaluate The Rise In Legal Employment

  

  Although the rate of employment for law school graduates — which had been falling steadily — saw a small increase over the last year, other factors, such as fewer graduates overall and potential future job growth stagnation, temper the good news for those pursuing law degrees, say Tiffane Cochran and Tyler Grimm of AccessLex Institute.

• A New Regulatory Push For Transportation Cybersecurity

  

  Transportation remains one of the few U.S. critical infrastructure sectors that is not covered by federal cybersecurity mandates. But in the last few months, the White House, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Congress have begun raising concerns, and new regulations may be on the way, says Norma Krayem of Holland & Knight.

• Foreign Investment In US Biotech Gets Greater Gov't Scrutiny

  

  Chinese investment in the U.S. biotech industry is attracting increased government oversight, as evidenced by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States blocking several such transactions in the last 16 months. Two important proposed rules could materially affect the industry further, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

• What Justices' Deference Opinion Means For Employers

  

  The U.S. Supreme Court rewrote the rules on judicial deference to federal agency guidelines with its recent decision in Kisor v. Wilkie. For employers — where agency guidance frequently disclaims authoritative use — it means a lot of settled law is potentially up for grabs, says Steven Katz at Constangy Brooks.

• How High Court FOIA Ruling Will Help Gov't Contractors

  

  The U.S. Supreme Court's recent Food Marketing Institute v. Argus decision will make it easier for government contractors to protect financial information from Freedom of Information Act requests even though the new standard for obtaining a FOIA exemption is somewhat unclear, say James Boland and Christopher Griesedieck of Venable.

• Opinion

  The Business Case For Championing Diverse Legal Teams

  

  Leveraging the collective strengths of a diverse workforce is not only the right thing to do, it’s a strategic imperative for any successful firm or business, says Louise Pentland, executive vice president and chief business affairs and legal officer of PayPal.

• Bid Protest Spotlight: Timing, RFP Criteria, Award Calculation

  

  In his monthly bid protest roundup, Charles Capito of Morrison & Foerster discusses three June decisions — a U.S. Court of Federal Claims opinion evaluating a highly unusual procedural posture, a U.S. Government Accountability Office finding regarding criteria used to distinguish identical offerors, and a GAO finding about the incorporation of prime contractor fees in award percentages.