Aerospace & Defense

Expert Analysis

• How Minority Shareholders Can Limit FTC Antitrust Scrutiny

  

  Because common minority ownership may have anti-competitive effects, and litigation could be on the horizon, investors who own minority interests in competitors should take proactive steps to avoid Federal Trade Commission enforcement, say attorneys at Norton Rose.

• Opinion

  If The DOD Wants Ligado's Spectrum, It Should Buy It

  

  The U.S. Department of Defense should stop blocking Ligado Networks' 5G network due to concerns it interferes with the department's GPS, and should instead pay the opportunity cost to buy Ligado's spectrum, say Thomas Lenard at the Technology Policy Institute and Lawrence White at the NYU Stern School of Business​​​​​​​.

• Opinion

  Lawyers Must Address Racial Injustice With Radical Candor

  

  The legal industry is uniquely positioned, and indeed obligated, to respond to the racial disparities made clear by the recent killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, but lawyers must be willing to be uncomfortable, says Tiffani Lee at Holland & Knight.

• How COVID-19 Applies To Weakened Competitor M&A Defense

  

  A New York federal court's February decision allowing the T-Mobile/Sprint merger and the large number of companies weakened by the pandemic will result in merging parties justifying potentially anti-competitive mergers primarily on the basis of efficiencies and weakened competitor status, say James Langenfeld and Chris Ring at Ankura Consulting.

• How Lawyers Can Network Better, Virtually And In Person

  

  The current decrease in formality and increase in common ground due to the work-from-home environment can make it easier to have a networking conversation, says Megan Burke Roudebush at Keepwith.

• Practical Tips For Presenting Your Case To Litigation Funders

  

  One mistake that attorneys commonly make when presenting a case to a third-party funder is focusing almost exclusively on liability and giving short shrift to the damages analysis — resulting in an aspirational damages estimate that falls apart under scrutiny, say Cindy Ahn and Justin Maleson at Longford Capital and Casey Grabenstein at Saul Ewing.

• Avoiding Inadvertent Privilege Waivers In E-Communications

  

  Attorneys at WilmerHale highlight recent developments in privilege law, the significant challenges raised by nontraditional working arrangements popularized during the pandemic, and ways to avoid waiving attorney-client privilege when using electronic communications.

• 5 Tips For Drafting Effective Legal Billing Guidelines

  

  To properly manage outside counsel, it's imperative for a company's legal department to implement and maintain rules on what they will and won't pay for, on staffing cases and requesting rate increases, and on how matters will be handled, says Chris Seezen at Quovant.

• How Anti-Terrorism Act Extension Affects Mainstream Cos.

  

  Expansion of the Anti-Terrorism Act to include secondary aiding and abetting claims, in conjunction with a stream of pro-plaintiff legislation, is increasing both liability and loss-of-reputation risk for private companies and banks operating in troubled foreign regions, say attorneys at Skadden.

• Opinion

  Don't Cancel Your Summer Associate Programs

  

  While pulling off an effective summer associate program this year will be no easy feat, law firms' investments in their future attorneys should be considered necessary even during this difficult time, says Summer Eberhard at Major Lindsey.

• The Legal Risks Of Bias In Artificial Intelligence

  

  Bias in artificial intelligence algorithms is inevitable, so companies that use AI should take proactive steps to avoid disparate impact on legally protected classes and minimize the risk of lawsuits, say Brig. Gen. Patrick Huston at the Army JAG Corps and Lourdes Fuentes-Slater at Karta Legal.

• 5 Ways To Reduce Post-Pandemic Legal Malpractice Exposure

  

  History suggests that legal malpractice claims will rise following the current economic downturn, and while a certain percentage of the claims will be unavoidable, there are prophylactic steps that law firms can take, says John Johnson at Cozen O'Connor.

• Justices' SEC Disgorgement Ruling May Shape FCPA Matters

  

  The U.S. Supreme Court’s upcoming opinion in Liu v. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission may call into question when Foreign Corrupt Practices Act settlements should be subject to disgorgement, say Matthew Rutter and Neal Hochberg at Charles River Associates.

• Opinion

  Credibility Concerns About Virtual Arbitration Are Unfounded

  

  Concerns that videoconferenced arbitration hearings compromise an arbitrator's ability to reliably resolve credibility contests are based on mistaken perceptions of how many cases actually turn on credibility, what credibility means in the legal world, and how arbitrators make credibility determinations, says Wayne Brazil at JAMS.

• CFIUS Proposal May Disproportionately Hit Certain Countries

  

  A recent Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States proposal would change the trigger for mandatory CFIUS filing from industry group designation to nationality-based export controls, facilitating investment from favored countries while discouraging investment from others, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.