Aerospace & Defense

  • April 10, 2025

    Cooley-Led Drone Operator Launches Plans For $75M IPO

    Drone systems developer Airo Group Holdings Inc. launched plans Thursday for an estimated $75 million initial public offering amid choppy market conditions, represented by Cooley LLP and underwriters' counsel Latham & Watkins LLP.

  • April 09, 2025

    'Evasive' Unions Told To List Fired Probationary Workers

    The California federal judge who ordered the reinstatement of many fired probationary federal workers before the U.S. Supreme Court stayed his ruling on Wednesday ordered the public sector unions representing federal staffers to provide a list of their booted members, calling their claims that the information would be difficult to produce "evasive."

  • April 09, 2025

    Trump's FCC Nominee Faces Light Scrutiny At Senate Hearing

    The woman that President Donald Trump has tapped to become the fifth member and final member of the Federal Communications Commission and cement the agency's Republican majority mostly skated through her nomination hearing Wednesday morning.

  • April 09, 2025

    New US Sanctions Target Iran's Nuclear Program

    The Trump administration on Wednesday announced sanctions targeting Iran's nuclear program, saying it is imposing them on five entities and one person based in Iran for their support of the program.

  • April 09, 2025

    House Dems Probe Musk's Alleged Conflicts Of Interest

    Democrats on the House Oversight Committee wrote to four federal agencies seeking answers to how they plan to ensure that Elon Musk isn't using his position at the Department of Government Efficiency to exploit them and enrich himself in violation of federal ethics rules.

  • April 09, 2025

    15 Cos. Win Slots On $7B Army Construction Contract

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has awarded 15 construction companies out of 35 bidders slots on a $7 billion contract for design-build and design-bid-build horizontal construction task orders. 

  • April 09, 2025

    NASA Nom Quizzed On Musk And Colonizing The Moon

    The commercial astronaut and businessman that President Donald Trump intends to make the next head of NASA came under fire during his nomination hearing Wednesday over his ties to billionaire and presidential confidante Elon Musk, who has billions in contracts with the agency.

  • April 09, 2025

    Insurer, Flight School Agree Training Suit Isn't Covered

    An insurer has no duty to defend or indemnify a flight school accused in an underlying suit of misrepresenting the education and training that students enrolled in a flight program would receive, according to a consent agreement approved by a North Carolina federal court.

  • April 09, 2025

    Ancora Drops US Steel Pursuit After Trump Flags Nippon Deal

    Ancora Holdings Group said Wednesday it is withdrawing its slate of director candidates for U.S. Steel's upcoming annual meeting, citing "apparent momentum" for the $14.9 billion acquisition by Japan's Nippon Steel after President Donald Trump announced a fresh national security review of the deal Monday. 

  • April 08, 2025

    Ex-Google Engineer Unlikely To Beat AI Trade Secrets Charges

    A California federal judge indicated Tuesday that he's unlikely to toss economic espionage charges against an ex-Google engineer accused of stealing artificial intelligence trade secrets to benefit startups in China, but said he "can't shake the feeling" that prosecutors wouldn't have brought the case if it involved a different country.

  • April 08, 2025

    OIG Finds $1.8M Of Potential 'Overbillings' In VA Contract

    The Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General said Tuesday that a transportation services contractor may have overbilled the department by about $1.8 million over two years and recommended that VA contracting officials consider whether they could or should try to recover any money.

  • April 08, 2025

    Feds Take Aim At Judge's Toss Of Bergdahl Conviction

    The U.S. Department of Justice has told the D.C. Circuit it was "inappropriate on every level" for a district court judge to throw out the court-martial conviction and sentence of former U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who deserted his post in Afghanistan.

  • April 08, 2025

    Feds Call Exec Charged With Tax Evasion A Flight Risk

    An aerospace company founder facing tax evasion and other fraud charges should remain in pretrial detention because he's a major flight risk, prosecutors told a D.C. federal court.

  • April 08, 2025

    Barings Snags Aircraft Portfolio Valued At Over $200M

    Investment manager Barings on Tuesday announced that it has agreed to buy an aircraft portfolio valued at more than $200 million through its capital solutions platform.

  • April 08, 2025

    9th Circ. Wary Of Judge Becoming 'King' Of Veteran Housing

    The Ninth Circuit appeared skeptical Tuesday of a California federal court's decision to establish control over a U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs facility due to inadequate homelessness measures, with one panel member expressing concern the district judge gave himself the overbroad powers of a "king."

  • April 08, 2025

    3M Tells 2nd Circ. Conn. PFAS Suit Belongs In Federal Court

    3M Co. on Monday told the Second Circuit that Connecticut's lawsuit accusing the company of polluting the environment with forever chemicals contained in its consumer products belongs in federal court.

  • April 08, 2025

    Key Witness Against Nadine Menendez Grilled Over Past Lies

    A corrupt former New Jersey insurance broker testifying against Nadine Menendez during her trial on bribery charges admitted Tuesday to a decade of lying prior to his decision to cooperate against her and her husband, former U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez.

  • April 08, 2025

    Split 4th Circ. Lifts Block On DOGE's Access To Gov't Data

    A split Fourth Circuit panel paused Monday a ruling blocking the Department of Government Efficiency from accessing sensitive information on millions of Americans held by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, U.S. Department of Education and the Office of Personnel Management, while a dissenting judge disagreed "with all the energy an old judge can muster."

  • April 08, 2025

    Justices Halt Order To Reinstate Federal Workers

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday hit pause on a California federal court order reinstating tens of thousands of probationary federal workers who were fired from six agencies, agreeing with the Trump administration that the nonprofit groups that obtained the order lack standing to challenge the firings. 

  • April 07, 2025

    Homeland Secretary Waives Fed Laws For Calif. Border Wall

    Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has issued a federal notice that she is waiving a slew of environmental and historical preservation laws to facilitate the construction of a barrier wall and roads in the San Diego area, citing illegal border crossings and drug trafficking.

  • April 07, 2025

    USAA Wants Full Fed. Circ. To Hear PNC's Patent Board Wins

    A San Antonio-based bank that lost two of its patents covering technology used to deposit checks through smartphones — including one tied to a $218 million jury verdict against PNC Bank — is arguing that a Federal Circuit panel has allowed the patent board "to escape its obligation to explain itself."

  • April 07, 2025

    FAA, SpaceX Failed Adequate Review For Starship, Groups Say

    Conservation groups told a federal court Friday that there is "clear record evidence" that the Federal Aviation Administration and SpaceX failed to complete an adequate environmental review for SpaceX's Starship rocket launch program in Texas.

  • April 07, 2025

    OMB Issues Guidance On Agency Use, Purchasing Of AI

    The Office of Management and Budget issued a pair of memorandums last week that replaced the Biden administration's safeguards on the federal acquisition of artificial intelligence with a policy aimed at accelerating federal agencies' use and procurement of artificial intelligence.

  • April 07, 2025

    Judges Probe Greek Air Force Contract Dispute's Timeliness

    Skeptical Federal Circuit judges pushed Greece's Air Force on Monday to explain why its $21.75 million suit over faulty reconnaissance cameras wasn't untimely, saying it seemed to be aware of related issues years before suing the U.S. government.

  • April 07, 2025

    Trump Reopens Security Review Of US Steel-Nippon Deal

    President Donald Trump on Monday ordered a fresh national security review of Nippon Steel's proposed $14.9 billion takeover of U.S. Steel, reviving a deal blocked by his predecessor and giving the companies some of the relief they sought in court.

Expert Analysis

  • Overseas Investment Rule Calls For Compliance Caution

    Author Photo

    Investors should be leery of who and what they are investing in now that the federal outbound investment regime, effective Jan. 2, has extended the governement's regulatory reach to businesses and parties not previously subject to trade restrictions, says Thaddeus McBride at Bass Berry.

  • Takeaways From DOJ Fraud Section's 2024 Year In Review

    Author Photo

    Attorneys at Paul Weiss highlight notable developments in the U.S. Department of Justice Fraud Section’s recently released annual report, and discuss what the second Trump administration could mean for enforcement in the year to come.

  • 'Key Personnel' Defense Is Trending In GAO Bid Protests

    Author Photo

    A trio of recent cases before the U.S. Government Accountability Office demonstrate that both the government and intervenors are increasingly defending bid protests by arguing that a protester's key personnel became unavailable after a proposal submission, but prior to an award, says Joshua Duvall at Maynard Nexsen.

  • Inside New Commerce Tech Restrictions: Mitigation Strategies

    Author Photo

    Given the breadth of the Bureau of Industry and Security’s authority under new restrictions on foreign adversary products and technologies, companies should assess their risk of falling in the agency's crosshairs and, if so, engage with BIS ahead of any enforcement action, says Peter Jeydel at Troutman Pepper Locke.

  • What's Next For Accounting Enforcement After SEC's Big 2024

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission under the Trump administration will likely continue to focus enforcement efforts on many of the same accounting and auditing issues that it pursued over the past year — but other areas, such as ESG, internal controls and cryptocurrency cases, may fall out of focus, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • Mentorship Resolutions For The New Year

    Author Photo

    Attorneys tend to focus on personal achievements or career milestones when they set yearly goals, but one important area often gets overlooked in this process — mentoring relationships, which are some of the most effective tools for professional growth, say Kelly Galligan at Rutan & Tucker and Andra Greene at Phillips ADR.

  • Key Trends In PFAS Regulation And Litigation For 2025

    Author Photo

    The critical policy milestones for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances expected in 2025 will not only shape the trajectory of PFAS regulation, but also set key precedents for environmental accountability, potentially reshaping the corporate approach to these "forever chemicals" for decades to come, say attorneys at MG+M.

  • Inside New Commerce Tech Restrictions: Key Risk Takeaways

    Author Photo

    While there are a few limitations on the scope of a new final rule restricting certain foreign adversary products and technologies, the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security retains sweeping authority to regulate an array of risk areas, says Peter Jeydel at Troutman.

  • Series

    Coaching Little League Makes Me A Better Lawyer

    Author Photo

    While coaching poorly played Little League Baseball early in the morning doesn't sound like a good time, I love it — and the experience has taught me valuable lessons about imperfection, compassion and acceptance that have helped me grow as a person and as a lawyer, says Alex Barnett at DiCello Levitt.

  • 5 Litigation Funding Trends To Note In 2025

    Author Photo

    Lawyers and their clients must be prepared to navigate an evolving litigation funding market in 2025, made more complicated by a new administration and the increasing overall cost of litigation, says Jeffery Lula at GLS Capital.

  • Managing Litigation Side-Switching During 2nd Trump Admin

    Author Photo

    Now that the new presidential administration is in place, the government will likely switch positions in a number of pending cases, and stakeholders should employ strategies to protect their interests, say attorneys at Covington.

  • 3 Noteworthy Effects Of The 2025 NDAA

    Author Photo

    The 2025 defense budget includes further restrictions on semiconductor sales to Huawei, requiring companies to rethink customer-base oversight, but other provisions are likely to broaden procurement contract opportunities, say attorneys at Miles & Stockbridge.

  • FTC Privacy Enforcement Takeaways From 2024

    Author Photo

    In 2024, the Federal Trade Commission distinguished three prominent trends in its privacy-related enforcement actions: geolocation data protections, data minimization practices, and artificial intelligence use and marketing, say Cobun Zweifel-Keegan at IAPP and James Smith at Dechert.

  • Rethinking Litigation Risk And What It Really Means To Win

    Author Photo

    Attorneys have a tendency to overestimate litigation risk before summary judgment and underestimate risk after it, but an eight-stage litigation framework can clarify risk at different points and help litigators reassess what true success looks like in any particular case, says Joshua Libling at Arcadia Finance.

  • Public Corruption Enforcement In 2024 Has Clues For 2025

    Author Photo

    If 2024 activity is any indication, the U.S. Supreme Court will likely continue to rein in expansive prosecutorial theories of fraud in the year to come, but it’s harder to predict what the new administration will mean for public corruption prosecutions in 2025, says Cathy Fleming at Offit Kurman.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the Aerospace & Defense archive.
Hello! I'm Law360's automated support bot.

How can I help you today?

For example, you can type:
  • I forgot my password
  • I took a free trial but didn't get a verification email
  • How do I sign up for a newsletter?
Ask a question!