After billionaire Elon Musk said earlier this week that a SpaceX and Tesla Inc. merger would be a "good idea," SpaceX confirmed in a filing that its board formed a special committee to evaluate a potential combination, while Tesla said it formed its own special committee to explore "deepening Tesla's relationship" with SpaceX.
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MONDAY, OCTOBER 26, 2026 Law360 iOS App Law360 Android App Follow Law360 on Facebook Follow Law360 on LinkedIn Follow Law360 on Twitter

TOP NEWS

SpaceX, Tesla Special Committees Review Potential Merger

By Al Barbarino

After billionaire Elon Musk said earlier this week that a SpaceX and Tesla Inc. merger would be a "good idea," SpaceX confirmed in a filing that its board formed a special committee to evaluate a potential combination, while Tesla said it formed its own special committee to explore "deepening Tesla's relationship" with SpaceX.

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Feds Want Grant Ruling Foiling Priorities Stayed For Appeal

By Tom Lotshaw

The Trump administration asked a Massachusetts federal judge to pause a decision declaring that a grant termination clause does not allow agencies to scrap awards not aligned with its new priorities, claiming it is likely to prevail in a First Circuit appeal.

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FCC Nat'l Security Clampdown Draws Rare Industry Rebukes

By Christopher Cole

Industry leaders see the Federal Communications Commission hitting for a high batting average during President Donald Trump's second term, pushing deregulation they have sought for years. But when it comes to putting the squeeze on device imports from foreign adversaries, business groups are less than bowled over — and they're letting the FCC know it.

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Lockheed Unit Fired Assault Victim For 'Fighting,' Suit Says

By Katherine Smith

A Teamsters local failed to properly represent a former senior powerhouse operator at a Lockheed Martin Corp. subsidiary after he was assaulted at work by a coworker but fired by the company for "fighting," according to a Connecticut state court lawsuit.

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NATIONAL SECURITY

9th Circ. Blocks Trump's Calif. National Guard Deployment

By Hailey Konnath

A split Ninth Circuit panel on Friday upheld a lower court's preliminary injunction blocking President Donald Trump's deployment of the California National Guard in Los Angeles last year, finding that the president didn't have the authority to order the deployment, which violated the constitutional separation of powers.

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POLICY & REGULATION

Canada, Turkey Announce Partnership For Boosting Trade

By Jack McLoone

Canada and Turkey are working toward growing the economic ties between the two countries, including through a free trade agreement, their leaders announced, as Canada continues to look to build new international trade relationships and expand its existing ones.

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Trump Signs Law Updating Wireless Emergency Alert System

By Aneeta Mathur-Ashton

President Donald Trump has signed into law a bipartisan, bicameral act that will modernize the emergency alert infrastructure by integrating satellite networks into the Wireless Emergency Alert system.

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Leave 2.5 GHz Band Out Of Satellite Plan, T-Mobile Says

By Nadia Dreid

T-Mobile says the Federal Communications Commission's plan to expand the coverage that satellites provide from space is a good one, but the agency should refrain from auctioning off the 2.5 gigahertz band for that purpose, arguing it should be reserved for operations on the ground.

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Brief

FCC Grants Intel's Automatic Vehicle Waiver For 1 Year

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission has granted Intel Corp. a one-year waiver from rules that could otherwise subject the automated vehicles used in its chipmaking plants to security restrictions.

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LITIGATION

DOD Contractor Says Ex-Worker Lacks Evidence For Trial Win

By Ganesh Setty

A U.S. Department of Defense contractor asked a Colorado federal court for a midtrial quick win in a whistleblower retaliation lawsuit over its cybersecurity services, arguing the plaintiff had failed to show an objectively reasonable belief that misconduct took place.

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Ex-Chief Pilot Wants Out Of Norwegian, Boeing 737 Max Spat

By Linda Chiem

Boeing's former chief technical pilot has asked a Washington federal judge to quash a subpoena demanding that he sit for a deposition in a contract dispute between a group of Norwegian Air subsidiaries and Boeing over a series of 737 Max jet purchase deals.

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TransDigm Can't Ax Ex-GC's Retaliation Suit, Ohio Court Says

By Lauren Berg

TransDigm Group cannot push to arbitration its former general counsel's lawsuit alleging that she was terminated in retaliation for reporting two instances of sexual harassment and antitrust compliance concerns at the aerospace company, an Ohio appeals court ruled, saying sexual harassment allegations are not subject to arbitration.

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Boeing Worker Says She Was Pushed Into Sex With Manager

By Rachel Riley

A Boeing employee claims her supervisor cornered her into a sexual relationship with a senior manager, who cut off contact when she got pregnant and refused to have an abortion, according to a lawsuit filed against the aerospace giant in Washington state court.

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EXPERT ANALYSIS

4 Steps For Cos. Amid Russia Sanctions Law Uncertainty

Russian companies, their U.S. subsidiaries and businesses with Russian commercial relationships should take concrete steps to determine their exposure under ambiguous provisions of legislation that recently expanded the scope of U.S. sanctions, notwithstanding an Oct. 16 executive order waiving most of its restrictions, say attorneys at Wilk Auslander.

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5 Issues To Watch As Fed. Circ. Hears Moderna Vax IP Case

Upcoming oral arguments before the Federal Circuit in Arbutus v. Moderna will test whether patent liability protections for government contractors extend to vaccines distributed to the public, and the resolution of certain questions, such as how to define “for the government,” may be key to the outcome, say attorneys at Honigman.

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LEGAL INDUSTRY

Are You Happy With Your In-House Role? Take Our Survey

Is your company giving you everything you need to succeed? What are some misconceptions about working in-house? Help Law360 Pulse answer these questions and more in this year's In-House Satisfaction Survey.

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Weil Merger Talks With Willkie End, Another Partner To Leave

By Daniel Moritz-Rabson

Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP and Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP have ended merger discussions and another top Weil partner is set to depart the firm, sources with knowledge on the matters told Law360 Pulse on Friday.

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Q&A

Holland & Knight Legal Profession Head On MSO Dealmaking

By Al Barbarino

Holland & Knight LLP partner Trisha Rich is at the forefront of the firm's work in a fast-growing corner of the legal industry, advising law firms setting up management services organizations, or MSOs, as well as the investors looking to buy into them.

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Trump Adviser Ducking Service In Exec Orders Suit, ABA Says

By Jack Karp

Trump attorney Boris Epshteyn has evaded service of subpoenas, so the American Bar Association should be allowed to pursue alternative means of serving him in its lawsuit over President Donald Trump's efforts to intimidate BigLaw firms, the organization is telling a Washington, D.C., federal judge.

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Mass. Judge Jailed Atty For 'Attitude,' Ethics Complaint Says

By Julie Manganis

A former Massachusetts state court judge placed a public defender into custody for hours over his "attitude" during a March 2025 hearing, the state's judicial conduct commission has said in a disciplinary complaint.

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SEC Fights LSU Claim That Case Citations Were 'Hallucinated'

By Alex Lawson

The Southeastern Conference is disputing claims that it submitted "hallucinated" case citations in its lawsuit challenging Louisiana State University's efforts to add former professional players to its sports teams, urging an Alabama federal judge to strike the allegations.

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Insurer Says NY Firm Staged Accidents For Suits

By Danielle Ferguson

A reinsurance company has filed another complaint accusing a New York personal injury law firm of recruiting workers to stage injuries in support of meritless claims, a few months after the Second Circuit dismissed similar claims because the insurer didn't have any direct injuries to bring a racketeering suit. 

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Ex-DOJ Officials And Judicial Nominees Vie For Office

By Courtney Bublé

Hundreds of candidates are on the ballot in the midterm elections, happening in less than two weeks, and among them are former U.S. Department of Justice officials and unsuccessful judicial nominees.

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9th Circ. Judge Hints Trump US Atty Firing OK Despite 'Chaos'

By Rachel Riley

A Ninth Circuit judge remarked on Friday that President Donald Trump's ouster of court-appointed Seattle U.S. Attorney Roger Rogoff has sown "chaos," but pushed back against Rogoff's contention that the move amounted to executive overreach, noting that the president already controls the office via the attorney general.

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NY Commercial Attys Must Justify Discovery Cost Bids Early

By Andrea Keckley

New York Courts Chief Administrative Judge Joseph A. Zayas said in an administrative order earlier this month that commercial litigators who want opposing counsel to fund some or all of the discovery process must state their basis for the request and provide a "good faith" estimate of the costs.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

McGinn Montoya Love Curry & Sievers PA and DiCello Levitt lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after a New Mexico federal judge ordered Meta to pay $25 billion over the lies that the social media giant offered the public regarding its data privacy practices.

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GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Sue Reisinger

Meta's legal chief says the company will appeal a $25 billion verdict involving data privacy practices including the Cambridge Analytica scandal. And a new study shows that while in-house starting salaries are staying stable, adding special skills like AI expertise can lift them higher.

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In Case You Missed It: Hottest Firms And Stories On Law360

For those who missed out, here's a look back at the law firms, stories and expert analyses that generated the most buzz on Law360 last week.

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COMPANIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

Abu Dhabi Investment Authority

Albertsons Cos. Inc.

American Bar Association

American Intellectual Property Law Association

Amicus

Arbutus Biopharma Corp.

Association of Corporate Counsel

Bauer Inc.

Burford Capital LLC

Council on Criminal Justice

DJI Technology Inc.

Drexel University

EQT Corp.

Ethiopian Airlines Enterprise

Greater New York Mutual Insurance Co.

Holtec International Inc

Intel Corp.

KPMG International

Lockheed Martin Corp.

Lotte Shopping Company Ltd.

Meta Platforms Inc.

Michigan State University

Moderna Inc.

National Association of Manufacturers

National Collegiate Athletic Association

Natura Cosmeticos SA

Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA

Nutanix Inc.

Otsuka Holdings Co. Ltd.

Pfizer Inc.

Qiagen NV

Robert Half Inc.

Serco Group PLC

Sevenson Environmental Services Inc.

Skydance Media LLC

Southeastern Conference

Space Exploration Technologies Corp.

T-Mobile US Inc.

Tesla Inc.

The Boeing Co.

The Brattle Group Inc.

The Kroger Co.

TransDigm Group Inc.

Trump Organization Inc.

Versar, Inc

WSP Holdings Ltd.

LAW FIRMS IN TODAY'S NEWS

Angeli & Calfo

Arnold & Porter

Ashurst Perkins

Bainbridge Mims

Baker & Hostetler

Bradley Arant

Clifford Chance

Cooley LLP

Cravath Swaine

DLA Piper

Davis Polk

Davis Wright Tremaine

De Brauw

DiCello Levitt

Frank Freed

Freshfields

Friedman Kaplan

Gerger Hennessy

Gibson Dunn

Haber LLP

Hogan Lovells

Holland & Knight

Holtzman Vogel

Honigman LLP

Kellogg Hansen

Kirkland & Ellis

Latham & Watkins

Linklaters LLP

Lowell & Associates

Marshall Gerstein

McCarter & English

McGinn Montoya

McNaul Ebel

Ment Law Group

Milbank LLP

Miller & Chevalier

Munger Tolles

Norton Rose

Ogborn Mihm

Paul Weiss

Robbins LLP

Robinson Bradshaw

Sidley Austin

Stibbe NV

Subin Associates

Subin LLP

Sullivan & Cromwell

Susman Godfrey

Taylor Porter

Tucker Disability Law

Weil Gotshal

Wilk Auslander

Williams & Connolly

Willis Law Group

Willkie Farr

WilmerHale

GOVERNMENT AGENCIES IN TODAY'S NEWS

California Attorney General's Office

Committee for Public Counsel Services

Commodity Futures Trading Commission

Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Delaware Court of Chancery

European Union

Executive Office of the President

Federal Aviation Administration

Federal Communications Commission

Louisiana Attorney General's Office

Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court

Missile Defense Agency

NATO

New York Attorney General's Office

Office of Foreign Assets Control

Tennessee Department of Health

U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

U.S. Department of Defense

U.S. Department of Homeland Security

U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of Labor

U.S. Department of the Treasury

U.S. District & Bankruptcy Courts of Southern District of Texas

U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware

U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington

U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration

U.S. House of Representatives

U.S. Navy

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

U.S. Senate

U.S. Supreme Court

US Office of Management and Budget

United States District Court for the District of Colorado

United States District Court for the District of Montana

United States District Court for the Eastern District of Washington

United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama