VA Moves To Ax Disparate Impact From Discrimination Regs

By Madeline Lyskawa

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs on Thursday moved to scrub portions of its regulations barring federal funding recipients from engaging in conduct with an unintentional disparate impact, saying they are in "considerable tension" with the U.S. Constitution. 

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White & Case Leads Aerospace Parts Biz's Upsized $919M IPO

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Aerospace engine maker DPC Holdings, known as Doncasters Group, hit the public markets on Thursday after raising $919 million in its upsized initial public offering.

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Brief

Lockheed Lands $35B Missile Defense System Contract

By Elaine Briseño

The U.S. Department of Defense has awarded Lockheed Martin Corp. a seven-year contract worth up to $35 billion to quadruple production of a missile defense system, the first major contract under the agency's goal of fortifying the country's arsenal.

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Feds Pay $17M To More Than 600 Plaintiffs Over Fuel Spills

By Ganesh Setty

The U.S. Department of Justice says it has issued settlement payments totaling roughly $17 million to more than 600 plaintiffs who asserted tort claims against the government over jet fuel spills from a since-shuttered U.S. Navy storage facility in Hawaii.

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Quinn Emanuel Says 3M Fee Proposal Undervalues Its Work

By Carolina Bolado

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP has objected to a special master's recommendation on the allocation of common benefit fees in the $6 billion settlement that ended multidistrict litigation against 3M over allegedly faulty combat earplugs, saying the amount doesn't value the "length, extent and impact" of the firm's work.

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EU Implements US Trade Deal, With Safeguards

By Jack McLoone

The European Union granted final approval Thursday to its modified version of a trade deal with the U.S. that will cut tariff rates on U.S. goods, albeit with guardrails.

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FCC Crafts New License Rules For Undersea Cable Lines

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday adopted new rules covering industry deployment of undersea communications cables, including the first licensing regime of its kind for submarine line terminal equipment.

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Brief

Wash. Resident Gets 18 Months For Russia Export Conspiracy

By Ganesh Setty

The U.S. Department of Justice said a Washington state resident has received a prison sentence of 18 months on Wednesday over a scheme to flout U.S. export restrictions on Russia, after pleading guilty in New York federal court in October.

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Feds Immune To Cross-Claims In Caltech Pollution Suit

By Mike Curley

A California federal judge has dismissed with prejudice cross-claims from the city of Pasadena against the U.S. government in a suit by the California Institute of Technology over groundwater contamination from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, finding the federal government has immunity.

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Claims Court Judge Says Navy Followed Disenrollment Rules

By Elaine Briseño

The U.S. Court of Federal Claims sided with the government in a lawsuit alleging the U.S. Navy violated its own regulations when it disenrolled a sailor from an officer commissioning program for inappropriate behavior, finding the Navy followed proper protocol.

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SpaceX Wants In On Suit Challenging Texas Land Swap Deal

By Ganesh Setty

SpaceX has urged a federal court in Washington to let it intervene in a lawsuit from environmental groups opposing the company's south Texas land exchange deal with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, noting its property interests are directly at stake.

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Fired SpaceX Workers Can't Dodge Arbitration, 9th Circ. Told

By Craig Clough

A SpaceX attorney Thursday urged the Ninth Circuit to revive its bid to arbitrate claims by eight former employees who say they were wrongfully terminated for complaining about CEO Elon Musk's sexually charged social media posts, saying they did not "adequately allege" sexual harassment.

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Brief Iran Sanctions Pause Will Most Benefit Non-US Cos.

Due to its short duration, the Office of Foreign Assets Control’s recently issued general license easing Iran sanctions will mostly benefit companies with preexisting commercial relationships involving Iranian petroleum, and is unlikely to mitigate overcompliance and de-risking behavior by U.S. and foreign financial institutions, says Michelle Roberts at Berliner Corcoran.

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Weighing The Implications Of The Anthropic Export Directive

The Trump administration recently issued an export control directive against Anthropic to suspend all access to Fable 5 and Mythos 5 by any foreign national, representing one of the first uses of the regime against a frontier large language model in widespread commercial distribution, says attorney Sohan Dasgupta.

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Series

Moshing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Entering a mosh pit is much like entering the practice of law — it is difficult, you have to know both the written and unwritten rules, and conduct yourself according to the expectations of each community, says Christopher Deubert at Constangy Brooks.

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Groombridge Wu Tops Milbank Pay Scale For Associates

By Kevin Penton

Groombridge Wu Baughman & Stone LLP is the latest firm to top the pay scale for associates announced earlier this month by Milbank LLP, with attorneys set to earn as much as $470,000.

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Senate Confirming Judges Faster Than In Trump's 1st Term

By Courtney Bublé

The Senate has confirmed 45 judges in the second Trump term, outpacing the rate of his first administration, Senate Republicans announced on Thursday.

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Attys Urged To Challenge Clients Who Demand AI Research

By Aaron Keller

A Connecticut federal judge urged attorneys during a Thursday sanctions hearing to push back against clients who demand lawyers use generative artificial intelligence tools to conduct legal research, saying the technology is no substitute for professional judgment and discretion because it "aims to please" and can misstate the law.

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Lack Of Evidence Sinks Insurance Fraud Case, Atty Says

By Emily Sawicki

A Louisiana law firm and lawyer found guilty of criminal conspiracy and wire fraud for staging vehicle crashes as part of a scheme to defraud insurance carriers and trucking companies are seeking acquittal or a new trial, arguing that federal prosecutors failed to support their claims with evidence.

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SCOTUSblog Founder Goldstein Blasts 'Inflated' DOJ Tax Math

By Jared Foretek

Convicted SCOTUSblog founder Tom Goldstein and federal prosecutors are clashing again over their dramatically divergent sentencing recommendations, with the defense accusing the government of presenting a "one-dimensional caricature" of the famed lawyer in seeking an eight-year sentence, and prosecutors accusing him of potentially deleting "secret chats" with his gambling backers.

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Feds Say Would-Be Kavanaugh Assassin Was Let Off Easy

By Nadia Dreid

Both federal prosecutors and a Stephen Miller-founded public interest group believe that a Maryland federal judge let a woman accused of trying to kill U.S. Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh off too easy because of her gender identity and want the Fourth Circuit to order resentencing.

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