Aerospace & Defense

  • December 18, 2025

    Feds Admit Role In DC Air Crash; Judge Reiterates Gag Order

    The U.S. government admitted partial liability in court for the deadly midair collision between an Army helicopter and an American Airlines plane, and subsequent comments to the media from one of the victims' attorneys prompted a sanctions threat from the judge.

  • December 18, 2025

    DC Circ. Told Transferred Ethics Suit Bolsters Newman's Case

    Suspended Federal Circuit Judge Pauline Newman is contending that a decision in which an ethics complaint against a Fourth Circuit judge was transferred out of his home court bolsters her argument that her fellow circuit judges shouldn't have investigated her fitness to remain on the bench.

  • December 18, 2025

    Top Trade Secrets Decisions Of 2025

    The Ninth Circuit clarified the rules of engagement in trade secrets disputes with guidance on when confidential information must be precisely detailed during litigation, and jurors delivered a $200 million verdict against Walmart over product freshness technology. Here are Law360's picks for the biggest trade secrets decisions of 2025.

  • December 18, 2025

    UC Researchers Near Reinstating $7B In DOE Grants

    A California federal judge said Thursday she's inclined to grant a preliminary injunction ordering the Trump administration to reinstate $7 billion in Department of Energy grants awarded to researchers, saying they were canceled with form letters similar to those she's previously found to violate the Administrative Procedure Act.

  • December 18, 2025

    Apollo Could Fetch $12B For Atlas Air, And More Rumors

    The past week saw no lack of chatter about potential sales, backdoor discussions, fundraises, initial public offerings and activist investor power moves.

  • December 18, 2025

    Dems Urge Scrutiny Of AT&T, SpaceX Spectrum Deals

    Congressional Democrats are pushing Trump administration officials to further scrutinize AT&T and SpaceX's plans to obtain wireless spectrum licenses from the telecommunications company EchoStar.

  • December 18, 2025

    Bad River Band Sues Army Corps Over Pipeline Reroute

    A Wisconsin tribe is seeking to void a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permit for the construction of a new 41-mile section of Enbridge Inc.'s Line 5 oil pipeline that will encircle its reservation, alleging that the agency failed to conduct required environmental reviews.

  • December 18, 2025

    NC Construction Exec Admits To $6M Bid-Rigging Scheme

    A North Carolina construction company executive pled guilty to a conspiracy to rig bids for maintenance and repair on U.S. military installations, according to a Wednesday press release from the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Public Affairs.

  • December 18, 2025

    GAO Says Navy Understaffing, Lax Penalties Increase Fire Risks

    A report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that the U.S. Navy's staffing shortages and failure to hold ship maintenance contractors accountable for violating safety protocols have contributed to an increased risk of fires.

  • December 17, 2025

    GAO Partly Backs DOD Contract Protest Because Of Redactions

    Heavy redactions from the U.S. Defense Logistics Agency in natural gas contract proposals prevented the U.S. Government Accountability Office from assessing whether two bidders deserved their awards, the GAO said Wednesday as it partially sustained an Oklahoma natural gas supplier's protest.

  • December 17, 2025

    Senate Sends $900B Defense Bill To Trump's Desk

    The U.S. Senate on Wednesday passed a $900.6 billion defense policy and budget bill for 2026, which includes a provision aimed at putting pressure on Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to release unedited video of boat strikes carried out in international waters near Venezuela. 

  • December 17, 2025

    Shutdown Deal Bars Federal Firings Until Feb., Judge Says

    A California federal judge said Wednesday she'll grant a preliminary injunction barring layoffs of federal workers from several agencies before Jan. 30, saying legislation that ended the government shutdown prohibits the layoffs, but she added she might pause her order while the government appeals.

  • December 17, 2025

    Pentagon Must Justify JAG Firings Under New NDAA

    Under the annual defense policy bill that was sent to the president's desk on Wednesday, the Pentagon will have to explain its firings of military lawyers — a provision that comes after the Trump administration controversially dismissed its top military lawyers at the beginning of the year.

  • December 17, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Says Biz Can Recover Damages For Building Loss

    The Federal Circuit revived an Illinois business's claim on Wednesday for $460,000 in damages after the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers revoked the company's lease to operate a wedding and event venue at a Carlyle Lake recreation center and took its building. 

  • December 17, 2025

    Ex-Leader Of Veterans Group Charged With Wire, Tax Fraud

    A former leader at an Idaho nonprofit veterans organization was indicted on accusations of defrauding the organization and filing false tax returns, federal prosecutors announced.

  • December 17, 2025

    North Carolina's Lumbee Tribe Set To Be Federally Recognized

    The Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina is set to receive federal recognition after the U.S. Senate passed the National Defense Authorization Act on Wednesday, which included legislation that, if signed by President Donald Trump, will grant the tribe the long-awaited status.

  • December 17, 2025

    Philly Agency Sued Over Police Officers' Brain Cancer

    A public development corporation in Philadelphia has been sued by a city police officer and the estates of two deceased officers who developed brain cancer allegedly from toxic chemicals present in a converted Army building used as the police department's narcotics unit headquarters.

  • December 16, 2025

    Arms Broker Sues Explosives Co. Over Subpar Product

    An arms broker sending munitions to support Ukraine has sued a Pennsylvania-based explosives manufacturer for allegedly grossly overselling its ability to provide high-quality explosives and secure faster-than-average export licenses, claiming the company is now refusing to return a $2.1 million deposit. 

  • December 16, 2025

    DOD To Reevaluate Discharges Over COVID Vax Refusal

    The U.S. Department of Defense said on Tuesday that Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ordered a reevaluation of the discharge status of service members who were involuntarily removed from the military after they refused to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. 

  • December 16, 2025

    GAO Dismisses Protest, Affirms Army's €978M Contract

    The U.S. Government Accountability Office declined to reconsider a security company's failure to obtain a €978 million ($1.15 billion) U.S. Army contract based on past performance, finding the company had not presented evidence the decision was unreasonable or improper.

  • December 16, 2025

    Nokia Chosen As Spectrum Access Manager For CBRS

    Nokia is the newest spectrum access manager for the Citizens Broadband Radio Service, the slice of spectrum that stretches from 3.55 to 3.7 gigahertz and is used for both private and government purposes, according to the Federal Communications Commission.

  • December 16, 2025

    DOD Contractor Says Engineer Stole 2K Files On Last Day

    Defense contractor Competitive Range Solutions LLC is suing a field engineer in Virginia federal court, accusing him of violating the Defend Trade Secrets Act by downloading thousands of confidential documents at the end of his last day of work and after accepting a job with a competitor.

  • December 16, 2025

    Trump Executive Order Calls Fentanyl A 'WMD'

    President Donald Trump has declared fentanyl a "weapon of mass destruction," according to an executive order that explicitly calls on the military to respond to "chemical incidents in the homeland."

  • December 15, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Says Navy Properly Canceled Deal Over Staffing

    The Federal Circuit on Monday affirmed a Court of Federal Claims' ruling that the Navy properly canceled an agreement with ASG Solutions Corp. after the contractor failed to maintain a 20-member professional team. 

  • December 15, 2025

    9th Circ. Backs Honeywell Over Engineer's Retaliation Claims

    The Ninth Circuit rejected an ex-Honeywell engineer's challenge to her firing after voicing concerns about avionic software that was part of a Boeing defense contract, finding any potential fraud to the government was too far removed to support a retaliation claim.

Expert Analysis

  • Handling Sanctions Risk Cartel Control Brings To Mexico Port

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    Companies operating in or trading with Mexico should take steps to mitigate heightened exposure triggered by routine port transactions following the U.S. Treasury’s recent unequivocal statement that a foreign terrorist organization controls the port of Manzanillo, says Jeremy Paner at Hughes Hubbard.

  • Unpacking The Supreme Court's Views On Judgment Finality

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    The U.S. Supreme Court's June opinion in BLOM Bank SAL v. Honickman reaffirmed that the bar for reopening a final judgment remains exceptionally high — even when the movant seeks to amend their complaint based on a new legal development, say attorneys at Venable.

  • Series

    Creating Botanical Art Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Pressing and framing plants that I grow has shown me that pursuing an endeavor that brings you joy can lead to surprising benefits for a legal career, including mental clarity, perspective and even a bit of humility, says Douglas Selph at Morris Manning.

  • Opinion

    PFAS Reg Reversal Defies Water Statute, Increasing Risks

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    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's recent moves delaying the deadlines to comply with PFAS drinking water limits, and rolling back other chemical regulations, violate the Safe Drinking Water Act, and increase the likelihood that these toxins could become permanent fixtures of the water supply, says Vineet Dubey at Custodio & Dubey.

  • Opinion

    The Legal Education Status Quo Is No Longer Tenable

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    As underscored by the fallout from California’s February bar exam, legal education and licensure are tethered to outdated systems, and the industry must implement several key reforms to remain relevant and responsive to 21st century legal needs, says Matthew Nehmer at The Colleges of Law.

  • Unpacking Notable Details From FTC's 'AI Washing' Cases

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    The Federal Trade Commission has brought many cases involving allegedly deceptive artificial intelligence claims over the past couple of years, illustrating overlooked aspects of AI washing generally and a few new types of AI marketing claims that may line up in regulatory crosshairs down the road, says Michael Atleson at DLA Piper.

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Rulings On Relevance Redactions

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    In recent cases addressing redactions that parties sought to apply based on the relevance of information — as opposed to considerations of privilege — courts have generally limited a party’s ability to withhold nonresponsive or irrelevant material, providing a few lessons for discovery strategy, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • How DOJ's New Data Security Rules Leave HIPAA In The Dust

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    The U.S. Department of Justice's recently effective data security requirements carry profound implications for how healthcare providers collect, store, share and use data — and approach vendor oversight — that go far beyond the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, say attorneys at Nelson Mullins.

  • Opinion

    Section 1983 Has Promise After End Of Nationwide Injunctions

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    After the U.S. Supreme Court recently struck down the practice of nationwide injunctions in Trump v. Casa, Section 1983 civil rights suits can provide a better pathway to hold the government accountable — but this will require reforms to qualified immunity, says Marc Levin at the Council on Criminal Justice.

  • Patent Ambiguity Persists After Justices Nix Eligibility Appeal

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    The Supreme Court recently declined to revisit the contentious framework governing patent eligibility by denying certiorari in Audio Evolution Diagnostics v. U.S., suggesting a necessary recalibration of both patent application and litigation strategies, say attorneys at Skadden.

  • Series

    Playing Soccer Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Soccer has become a key contributor to how I approach my work, and the lessons I’ve learned on the pitch about leadership, adaptability, resilience and communication make me better at what I do every day in my legal career, says Whitney O’Byrne at MoFo.

  • How Trump Cybersecurity EO Narrows Biden-Era Standards

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    President Donald Trump recently signed Executive Order No. 14306, which significantly narrows the scope and ambition of a Biden executive order focused on raising federal cybersecurity standards among federal vendors, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.

  • Series

    Law School's Missed Lessons: Learning From Failure

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    While law school often focuses on the importance of precision, correctness and perfection, mistakes are inevitable in real-world practice — but failure is not the opposite of progress, and real talent comes from the ability to recover, rethink and reshape, says Brooke Pauley at Tucker Ellis.

  • Deep-Sea Mining Outlook Murky, But May Be Getting Clearer

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    U.S. companies interested in accessing deep-sea mineral resources face uncertainty over new federal regulations and how U.S. policy may interact with pending international agreements — but a Trump administration executive order and provisions of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act should help bring clarity, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • Series

    Adapting To Private Practice: From ATF Director To BigLaw

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    As a two-time boomerang partner, returning to BigLaw after stints as a U.S. attorney and the director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, people ask me how I know when to move on, but there’s no single answer — just clearly set your priorities, says Steven Dettelbach at BakerHostetler.

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