Siemens' $2.2M Suit Over Army Project Prep Costs Tossed

By Ganesh Setty

The U.S. Court of Federal Claims dismissed a Siemens unit's lawsuit seeking roughly $2.2 million in bid-preparation costs over an energy savings task order the U.S. Army ultimately didn't issue, finding the overarching contract expressly barred such recovery.

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SpaceX Launches Plans For Massive $75B IPO

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

SpaceX on Wednesday outlined a price target for its blockbuster initial public offering, telling U.S. regulators that it expects to raise $75 billion in what would mark the largest IPO in history.

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11th Circ. Revives Cop's Military Service Bias Suit

By Patrick Hoff

The Eleventh Circuit reopened a lawsuit alleging that a Florida city police officer was harassed and demoted because he took time off for military service, holding that the trial court needed to take a closer look at whether the back pay he received was enough to remedy the situation.

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Fed. Circ. Says Air Force Needn't Cover Co.'s Unpaid Costs

By Ganesh Setty

The U.S. Air Force isn't obligated to compensate a subcontractor for over $8 million in unpaid expenses the company said it incurred because of the prime contractor's bankruptcy, the Federal Circuit ruled Wednesday, examining the parties' payment arrangement.

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Broadband Group Wants Same FCC Router Waiver As AT&T

By Nadia Dreid

The Federal Communications Commission should grant NCTA — The Internet & Television Association members a waiver allowing them to make changes to foreign-made routers since getting replacements has become difficult due to supply chain shortages and the agency has banned routers made outside the country.

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NextNav GPS Backup Called 'Destructive' To Public Safety

By Nadia Dreid

A U.S. House subcommittee is set to hear proposals Thursday to deploy new Earth-based systems to back up GPS, but one public advocacy group is sounding the alarm ahead of time about the dangers of a spectrum-based alternative proffered by NextNav.

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Brief

USTR Seeks Input On China Preferential Trade Mechanism

By Jack McLoone

The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced what it is calling a government-to-government mechanism that will manage bilateral trade between the U.S. and China, including by considering tariff cuts, and asked for public comments on the program's development.

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Balwani Takes Theranos Conviction Challenge To Justices

By Lauren Berg

Former Theranos executive Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review his criminal fraud conviction and nearly 13-year prison sentence, arguing that the Ninth Circuit used the wrong review doctrine in rejecting his argument that prosecutors had failed to correct allegedly false testimony given by investor victims.

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Hegseth Strips Military Paper's Independence, Suit Says

By Bonnie Eslinger

The U.S. Department of Defense is exerting "unprecedented control" of the military newspaper Stars and Stripes and stripped it of its editorial independence, claims a lawsuit filed Wednesday in Washington, D.C., federal court by two Pulitzer-Prize-winning journalists who serve on the publication's advisory board.

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Air Force Lawfully Re-Awarded Avionics Contract, Judge Says

By Tom Lotshaw

A U.S. Court of Federal Claims judge said two companies challenging an Air Force decision to re-award a contract to update avionics in training aircraft and simulators failed to flag any basis to disturb the deal.

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NJ Says Most Of $3B PFAS Deal Objector Issues Are Resolved

By George Woolston

New Jersey told a federal court this week it has reached agreements with all but two of the parties that objected to proposed deals worth a combined $3 billion with 3M Co. and various DuPont entities to resolve claims over contamination caused by forever chemicals, saying the agreements further support the court's approval of the settlements.

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Kirkland-Led Defense Firm Applied Aerospace Inks $650M IPO

By Elaine Briseño

Applied Aerospace & Defense Inc., with a market value of $3.4 billion, began trading publicly on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday after raising $650 million with an initial public offering guided by Kirkland & Ellis LLP and Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP.

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Brief

Germany's Rheinmetall Selling Auto Biz To Aequita For $406M

By Al Barbarino

German defense contractor Rheinmetall said Wednesday it has agreed to sell its civilian Power Systems business to Munich-based industrial holding company Aequita for €350 million, or roughly $406 million.

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High Seas Vessel Forfeitures Face Constitutional Headwinds

The owner of an oil tanker the government seized over ties to Iran recently asked a D.C. federal court to dismiss the forfeiture action for lack of jurisdiction, raising constitutional questions about U.S. forfeiture law and the seizure of ships without a foreign government's cooperation, say attorneys at Reed Smith.

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5 Things Associates Must Ask About Their Firm's Merger Plan

The associates who navigate law firm mergers best ask the right questions early, such as inquiring about partners' plans, to assess how the merger could affect their workflow and career path, says Jackie Bokser-LeFebvre at Major Lindsey.

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Quinn Emanuel, Texas Boutique Match Milbank Associate Pay

By Kevin Penton

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP and a Texas-based litigation boutique are the latest firms to match Milbank LLP's pay hikes for associates, with annual increases of $10,000 to $20,000 that top off at $455,000.

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Blanche's AG Bid Could Face Rocky Path In Senate

By Courtney Bublé

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche will be tapped for the permanent role, but he might not have a smooth path to confirmation.

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Goldstein Seeks Sentencing Delay, Citing New Tax Claims

By Jared Foretek

SCOTUSblog founder Thomas Goldstein renewed his push Wednesday in Maryland federal court for a delayed sentencing, saying prosecutors blindsided his defense by including additional uncharged years of alleged tax avoidance in the government's sentencing memorandum.

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Georgia Fed. Judge Facing Impeachment Threat, New DQ Bid

By Emily Johnson

A Georgia federal judge reportedly disciplined for having sexual intercourse in her chambers and attending a political event is facing renewed pressure, as a former UPS employee seeks her disqualification from his dismissed racial discrimination lawsuit and a Georgia congressman drafts articles of impeachment to remove her from the bench.

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Deepfake Mocks Judge Spearheading Judiciary Deepfake Rule

By Jeff Overley

The New York federal judge developing policies for phony audiovisual materials revealed Thursday firsthand experience with the subject: an artificial intelligence video on social media that depicts him as a maniacal Nazi who recently sentenced a private equity executive to prison "for being a Republican."

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Analysis

'Parallel' DOJ, SEC Investigations Not So Parallel Anymore

By Phillip Bantz

The level of coordination between the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has decreased under the Trump administration, resulting in disjointed investigatory efforts and misaligned timing in parallel investigations, experts say.

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'Kentucky Hammer' Tries To Control Attys, PI Market, Suit Says

By James Boyle

The principal attorney of personal injury firm Isaacs & Isaacs PCS, who advertises as the "Kentucky Hammer," has been accused by a former attorney at the firm of bullying his employees into signing unfavorable contracts and attempting to monopolize the local personal injury market.

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Baker Donelson Seeks 'No Recovery' Ruling In Ponzi Fallout

By Emily Sawicki

Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz PC on Thursday asked a Mississippi federal court to issue a single check-box form ruling that states the firm does not owe a monetary judgment stemming from a jury's verdict finding it committed negligent supervision amid a timber company's nine-figure Ponzi scheme, which was perpetrated in part by two of the firm's then-partners.

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Calif. Bar Accuses More Attys In Unlicensed Practice Scheme

By Lauren Berg

Three more attorneys at the Los Angeles personal injury firm facing investigation for its involvement in a record $4 billion sex abuse settlement against Los Angeles County are facing disciplinary charges by the State Bar of California, alleging the firm illegally practiced law outside the state.

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NY AG Must Preserve Cohen Docs In Trump's Civil Fraud Case

By Frank G. Runyeon

The New York state trial court judge overseeing President Donald Trump's civil fraud case granted his request to preserve notes from private meetings between state litigators and Trump's former attorney Michael Cohen after the key witness said he felt "pressured" to testify.

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SEC Disgorgement Powers Stay Intact After High Court Fight

By Jessica Corso

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday said that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission could collect ill-gotten gains from alleged fraudsters without having to identify victims who were financially harmed by the fraud, declining to place further limits on the agency's disgorgement powers six years after it last did so.

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Titan Of The Plaintiffs Bar: Robbins Geller's David Knotts

By Sydney Price

Right after graduating from Cornell University Law School, David Knotts, a native of Kansas City, Missouri, landed at one of the world's largest corporate defense firms.

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