Aerospace & Defense

  • May 13, 2024

    'Gamesmanship' Lecture Launches Menendez Bribery Trial

    The corruption trial of U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez started Monday with a stern admonition from U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein after the government and defense lawyers squabbled over pretrial disclosures, and a message that the jury may be in for a long haul. 

  • May 10, 2024

    Congress Wants Microsoft Prez To Testify On Security Failures

    A congressional committee has asked Microsoft President Brad Smith to testify at a public hearing about the company's cybersecurity measures and response to recent successful attacks against government officials by Russian and Chinese hackers, according to a letter posted Friday on social media platform X.

  • May 10, 2024

    Navy Defends Retaining Contractor Facing Labor Unrest

    The U.S. Navy on Friday rebutted a Federal Circuit judge's suggestion that it might have turned "a blind eye" to a contractor's alleged labor law violations, saying it followed its obligations under procurement law to assess both performance and ethics.

  • May 10, 2024

    GAO Says DHS Unfairly Assessed Bids On $17M Support Deal

    The U.S. Government Accountability Office has backed a protest over a $17.2 million U.S. Department of Homeland Security support services order, saying the agency failed to show its assessment of proposals was reasonable.

  • May 10, 2024

    Biz Claims Foreign Bribe Needed To Meet Energy Deal's Terms

    An aviation fuel company protested the U.S. Defense Logistics Agency's latest effort to supply fuel to military bases in Djibouti, accusing the agency of requiring interested contractors to obtain a license that can, allegedly, only be received through bribery.

  • May 10, 2024

    Engineering Firm Inks Latest Deal In Conn. No-Poach Suit

    Belcan Engineering Group LLC has reached a deal with a proposed class of aerospace workers who accused it of conspiring with a Raytheon Technologies Corp. subsidiary and others to restrict hiring through anti-competitive "no-poach" agreements, according to a notice filed in Connecticut federal court.

  • May 10, 2024

    New Evidence, Old Politics To Collide In 2nd Menendez Trial

    U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez and the government will face off Monday for the second time before a jury tasked with weighing bribery charges, a courtroom showdown that promises higher stakes — think flashier evidence and a more dramatic defense — than the corruption case the New Jersey Democrat escaped seven years ago.

  • May 09, 2024

    3M, Dupont Want Conn. AG's PFAS Suit To Stay In Fed. Court

    Stressing their work for the military, 3M Co. and several entities tied to what was once E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Co. have opposed a motion by the Connecticut Attorney General's Office to send a PFAS forever chemicals environmental pollution case back to state court.

  • May 09, 2024

    VA Improperly Gave Execs $10.8M In Incentives, OIG Finds

    Ineffective internal controls and leadership issues resulted in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs improperly awarding $10.8 million in skills-based recruitment and retention incentives to senior executives at its central office, the VA's internal watchdog revealed in a Thursday report.

  • May 09, 2024

    11th Circ. Urged To Reconsider Ruling In Cancer Cluster Case

    A group of Florida families asked the Eleventh Circuit on Thursday to reconsider its decision affirming a jury verdict that found defense contractor Pratt & Whitney was not liable for a cancer cluster near the company's former rocket testing site, arguing that the panel affirmed a legally deficient verdict form.

  • May 09, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Judge 'Baffled' By Gov't Args In Boeing Costs Case

    An exasperated Federal Circuit judge on Thursday tore into the government's contention that a disputed cost accounting regulation has no bearing on Boeing's claim that the defense contractor was wrongly barred from offsetting multiple simultaneous accounting changes against each other.

  • May 09, 2024

    Justices Asked To Weigh In On $1.3B India Award Fight

    Shareholders of an Indian satellite communications company are pressing the U.S. Supreme Court to clarify the analysis of a highly technical jurisdictional question as they look to revive their bid to enforce a $1.3 billion arbitral award against a state-owned division of India's space agency.

  • May 09, 2024

    9th Circ. Revives Northrop Retirees' Putative Class Action

    The Ninth Circuit on Thursday once again resurrected a proposed class action accusing Northrop Grumman of misinforming retirees about their pension benefits, ruling that the retirees have plausibly alleged that they received inaccurate benefit statements.

  • May 09, 2024

    Gov't Says It's Already Yielded Camp Lejeune Muster Rolls

    The federal government on Wednesday told the North Carolina federal court overseeing litigation over water contamination at the Camp Lejeune base that it has already produced muster rolls and that the court should deny the service members' request to produce more records.

  • May 09, 2024

    Feds' Pay Bias Suit Against Wis. Military Affairs Heads To Trial

    A federal judge refused Thursday to grant the Wisconsin Department of Military Affairs a win in a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Department of Justice, saying a jury could find that the state agency lowballed an applicant for a director position because she's a woman.

  • May 09, 2024

    Sen. Menendez's 2nd Bribery Trial: All You Need To Know

    In the wake of a 2017 mistrial on bribery charges, U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez reaffirmed his dedication to public service and vowed never to stop fighting for the people of New Jersey.

  • May 09, 2024

    A Senator's Path From NJ Politics To Corruption Charges

    U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, the son of Cuban immigrants who climbed the political ladder from the ranks of a New Jersey school board to ultimately become chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, is defending his reputation and career against federal corruption charges for the second time in less than a decade.

  • May 08, 2024

    Hyundai To Pay $334K Over Repossessing Vets' Cars

    Hyundai's American financing arm has agreed to pay $333,941 to resolve the government's suit in California federal court alleging the carmaker reclaimed 26 vehicles owned by members of the armed forces in violation of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, the U.S. Department of Justice announced on Wednesday.

  • May 08, 2024

    Boeing Again Seeks Exit From Suit Over Love-Triangle Murder

    The Boeing Co. is again asking a Seattle federal judge to let it escape liability in a case involving a love triangle among employees that ended in murder, saying the newest iteration of the suit still doesn't adequately allege Boeing knew or should have known about the employee's potential for violence.

  • May 08, 2024

    New Treasury Rule Amps Up Reporting Burden For Banks

    The U.S. Department of the Treasury introduced an interim final rule Wednesday that refines and further expands recent increases in reporting requirements, including a new obligation for financial institutions to notify the federal government any time they unblock frozen assets.

  • May 08, 2024

    Fla. Defense Contractor Admits To Selling Parts From Turkey

    A Florida defense contractor has pled guilty to federal conspiracy charges in connection to a scheme to defraud the U.S. Department of Defense, admitting that she violated export control laws by using a front company to supply critical military components that were manufactured in Turkey.

  • May 08, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Denies Siemens' Bid For Navy Energy Audit Costs

    The Federal Circuit ruled Wednesday that the U.S. Navy doesn't owe a Siemens unit $5.7 million for costs the company incurred to investigate potential energy savings measures at two military installations, saying a related contract clearly didn't cover those costs. 

  • May 08, 2024

    GAO Backs DLA's Sole-Source Fuel Deal With Iraqi Contractor

    The U.S. Government Accountability Office has dismissed a Virginia company's protest of a jet fuel contract the Defense Logistics Agency awarded to an Iraqi competitor, saying the protester's challenge of the deal was based on factual inaccuracies.

  • May 08, 2024

    Taliban's Unexpected Takeover Dooms Contractor's $1.5M Suit

    An administrative appeals board refused to order the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to reimburse a contractor for $1.5 million of equipment lost while evacuating Afghanistan, saying it couldn't have anticipated in 2019 a Taliban takeover just over two years later.

  • May 08, 2024

    Fishermen Drop $35M Coast Guard Kidnapping Claims

    A pair of fishermen who accused the U.S. Coast Guard of "kidnapping" them for 10 days at sea, destroying their ship and getting them sent to prison for years on drug charges that were later dismissed have voluntarily dropped their $35 million suit over the incident.

Expert Analysis

  • 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.

  • Manufacturers Should Pay Attention To 'Right-To-Repair' Laws

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    Oregon’s recently passed "right-to-repair" statute highlights that the R2R movement is not going away, and that manufacturers of all kinds need to be paying attention to the evolving list of R2R statutes in various states and consider participating in the process, says Courtney Sarnow at Culhane.

  • Don't Use The Same Template For Every Client Alert

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    As the old marketing adage goes, consistency is key, but law firm style guides need consistency that contemplates variety when it comes to client alert formats, allowing attorneys to tailor alerts to best fit the audience and subject matter, says Jessica Kaplan at Legally Penned.

  • Series

    Walking With My Dog Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Thanks to my dog Birdie, I've learned that carving out an activity different from the practice of law — like daily outdoor walks that allow you to interact with new people — can contribute to professional success by boosting creativity and mental acuity, as well as expanding your social network, says Sarah Petrie at the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Follow The Iron Rule Of Trial Logic

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    Many diligent and eager attorneys include every good fact, point and rule in their trial narratives — spurred by the gnawing fear they’ll be second-guessed for leaving something out — but this approach ignores a fundamental principle of successful trial lawyering, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • Breaking Down EPA's Rule On PFAS In Drinking Water

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    Last week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency finalized the first enforceable federal drinking water regulation for PFAS, which, along with reporting and compliance requirements for regulated entities, will have a number of indirect effects, including increased cleanup costs and the possible expansion of existing Superfund sites, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Unpacking The Interim Vet-Owned Small Biz Verification Rule

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    Government contractors that intend to bid for service-disabled veteran-owned small business set-aside contracts should immediately consider the potential impacts of a recently issued rule that specifies how contracting officers will verify that they have certified their status, say Derek Mullins and Beth Gotthelf at Butzel.

  • The Art Of Asking: Leveraging Your Contacts For Referrals

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    Though attorneys may hesitate to ask for referral recommendations to generate new business, research shows that people want to help others they know, like and trust, so consider who in your network you should approach and how to make the ask, says Rebecca Hnatowski at Edwards Advisory.

  • Series

    Being An Equestrian Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Beyond getting experience thinking on my feet and tackling stressful situations, the skills I've gained from horseback riding have considerable overlap with the skills used to practice law, particularly in terms of team building, continuing education, and making an effort to reset and recharge, says Kerry Irwin at Moore & Van Allen.

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