Senate Confirms Jay Clayton As National Intelligence Chief

By Madeline Lyskawa

The U.S. Senate voted Tuesday to confirm Jay Clayton as director of national intelligence, two weeks after Clayton, the former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, refused to answer who he thought won the 2020 election during his confirmation hearing.

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11th Circ. Sides With Lockheed Martin In Toxic Exposure Suits

By Hailey Konnath

The Eleventh Circuit on Tuesday refused to disturb a Florida federal court's decision excluding testimony from plaintiffs' experts in a pair of suits claiming Lockheed Martin allowed toxic waste to leach into the area surrounding its Orlando facility, ruling that both experts' testimony fell short of evidentiary requirements.

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FCC Says Starlink Routers Exempt From Nat'l Security Ban

By Nadia Dreid

The Federal Communications Commission has banned virtually all foreign-made routers from the United States, citing national security concerns, but it isn't worried about ones made by billionaire Elon Musk's satellite internet company Starlink.

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States Back Guam Group In High Court Disposal Permit Fight

By Ganesh Setty

A coalition of states has told the U.S. Supreme Court that the U.S. Air Force must comply with separate, complementary environmental laws over its permit renewal application to detonate expired munitions in Guam, arguing the laws have distinct aims.

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Brief

Humanoids, Other Robotics Added To FCC's Nat'l Security List

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission said Tuesday that humanoids and other advanced robotics newly produced in foreign countries will be included on the "covered list" of products restricted from U.S. importation and marketing.

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Brazil Files Complaint At WTO Against US Tariffs

By Dylan Moroses

The Brazilian government filed a complaint at the World Trade Organization against U.S. tariffs placed on Brazilian goods, arguing that the measures run afoul of global trade rules, it said Monday evening. 

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4th Circ. Says DOL Can Argue In Lockheed Pension Suit

By Tom Lotshaw

A Fourth Circuit panel granted the U.S. Department of Labor's request to participate in oral arguments for a Lockheed Martin Corp. appeal challenging a Maryland federal judge's refusal to dismiss a proposed class action challenging a $9 billion pension risk transfer.

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DHS Can't Undo Order Halting TSA Union Deal Cancellation

By Rachel Riley

A federal judge in Seattle denied the Trump administration's bid on Tuesday to lift a court order blocking the U.S. Department of Homeland Security from canceling a collective bargaining agreement covering thousands of Transportation Security Administration workers, saying the government failed to debunk two independent grounds for the injunction.

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Insurance Co. Beats Kosovo Citizens' Disability Benefits Suit

By Patrick Hoff

A New York Life Insurance Co. unit defeated a lawsuit alleging it breached Pennsylvania law when it denied disability benefits to 17 Kosovo citizens who supported the U.S. military in Afghanistan, with a federal judge ruling the claims are preempted by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

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GAO Denies Protest Over $83M Space Force Support Deal

By Tom Lotshaw

The U.S. Government Accountability Office denied a California company's protest over an $83 million U.S. Space Force award for research support, concluding that the agency reasonably weighed staffing experience and compensation factors before selecting an Alabama company's lower-cost, higher-risk proposal.

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Alkegen Can Draw On Ch. 11 Financing In Prepack Case

By Vince Sullivan

Bankrupt specialty materials maker Alkegen received permission Tuesday from a Texas judge to access part of a $630 million bankruptcy loan from existing lenders after opposition over the size of the interim package was overruled.

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Rare DOJ Military Bias Suit Shows Peril Of Co. Admissions

Although the government rarely litigates Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act claims against private employers, Opara v. UV Memory Care demonstrates that it will do so when an employer's own admissions build the case, potentially resulting in significant compliance obligations and long-term consequences, says Bradford Kelley at Littler.

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What New USDA 'Beneficial Owner' Definition Means For Cos.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's recent pitch to add a new "beneficial owner" definition to its foreign-owned land reporting framework would overhaul how fund managers and joint venture participants report U.S. agricultural land interests, creating diligence risks as companies reassess governance rights and management structure, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

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Trader In BigLaw Deal-Tipping Scheme To Plead Guilty

By Chris Villani

A Florida resident is set to plead guilty to his alleged role in a sweeping scheme to trade on insider information about impending acquisitions that was stolen from major law firms, according to a court filing Tuesday.

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Simpson Thacher Stock Work Hurt 2 Companies, Jury Told

By Madison Arnold

The chief financial officer for an insurance company told a Florida jury Tuesday that a stock drop for Patriot National Inc. — which is suing Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP for malpractice for allegedly putting together a shoddy securities offering — dramatically affected his own business as well.

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AT&T Whistleblower Told To Cut Facts From Ethics Case Filing

By Sue Reisinger

Former AT&T in-house counsel and whistleblower Theodore Marcus has been asked to delete part of his response to professional misconduct charges pending against him in Washington, D.C., because the filing allegedly contains privileged information.

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1st Circ. Asked To Save Mayer Brown $21M Fee Bid In RI Suit

By Linda Chiem

The American Trucking Associations told the First Circuit that its attorneys at Mayer Brown LLP reasonably justified their request for $21 million in fees and costs after securing "substantial" wins in long-running litigation over Rhode Island's truck tolling program, disputing a district court's determination that the trucking trade group wasn't actually a "prevailing party."

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Winston Taylor Seeks Sanction Against Ex-Client Hunter Biden

By Rae Ann Varona

Winston Taylor urged a D.C. state court on Monday to sanction its former client Hunter Biden in its legal bills collection suit, saying the former president's son destroyed Signal communications that would have proved he understood that he owes the law firm more than $50,000.

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Court Is In Session Whenever A Judge Says It Is, 6th Circ. Told

By Susan Smiley

Court is wherever and whenever a judge says it is, counsel for a Detroit judge told a Sixth Circuit panel Tuesday, arguing that subjecting a student to a mock arrest and trial because she fell asleep during a field trip was within his jurisdiction.

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Queens Defenders Head Gets 3.5 Years For Looting The Nonprofit

By Pete Brush

A Brooklyn federal judge on Tuesday sentenced the former director of the Queens Defenders to more than 3.5 years in prison after the longtime attorney admitted to a course of embezzlement that destroyed the group dedicated to legal services for the poor.

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