Analysis

Justices' Fluor Ruling Adds To DOD Contractors' War Costs

By Madeline Lyskawa

Defense contractors may want to factor additional liability costs into their contracts since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a veteran's state-based injury claims from a 2016 bombing in Afghanistan can proceed against Fluor Corp.

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Soldier Aware Of Maduro Raid Bet On Polymarket, Feds Say

By Pete Brush

A U.S. Army sergeant stationed in North Carolina who helped plan the capture of deposed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro made lucrative, unlawful prediction market bets on the raid that saw Maduro brought to New York in January, Manhattan federal prosecutors charged on Thursday.

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Dems Back Sen. Kelly In DOD Fight Over Illegal Orders Video

By Courtney Bublé

Five Democrats in Congress who previously served in the military and intelligence communities backed U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., in his challenge to the Trump administration's retaliation for warning service members not to carry out illegal orders.

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Axiom Space Says Ex-Lobbyist Can't Work At Rival

By José Luis Martínez

Axiom Space Inc. urged a Texas federal judge Thursday to stop its former policy adviser from working for rival commercial space infrastructure firm Vast Inc., arguing that a noncompete deal and his knowledge of confidential information warrant a temporary restraining order.

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Cos. Say Permit Delays Could Drag Out 'Rip And Replace'

By Christopher Cole

The government's multibillion-dollar effort to pull Chinese-made gear from U.S. telecom networks is almost done, but a carriers' group told the agency this week it was concerned that permit delays could set project timelines back.

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FCC Rejects SpaceX, Iridium Bids To Change 'Big LEO' Rules

By Christopher Cole

The Federal Communications Commission's staff has turned down requests from SpaceX and Iridium Communications Inc. to revamp spectrum sharing rules in the "Big LEO" bands that sought to let the companies expand mobile satellite services.

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Brief

Amazon Gets OK To Sell Leo Routers Despite Covered List

By Nadia Dreid

The Federal Communications Commission continues to make exceptions for certain foreign-made routers after issuing a blanket ban on their being sold in the United States earlier this year by placing them on the so-called covered list.

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Huawei's Long-Awaited NY RICO Trial Moved To Fall

By Stewart Bishop

A Brooklyn federal judge on Thursday said the racketeering trial of Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. will be delayed from June until September, after prosecutors filed streamlined charges over the weekend in one of two seven-year-old criminal cases the Chinese telecom company faces in the U.S.

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DOJ Says Beverly Hills Mansion Bought With Bribe Money

By Elaine Briseño

The U.S. Department of Justice has asked a California federal court to allow the government to take possession of a Beverly Hills mansion alleged to have been purchased and then renovated with $30 million in illegally obtained and laundered funds.

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Sikorsky Says UK Co. Owes $9.8M More In Chopper Feud

By Brian Steele

A British company that is already on the hook for more than $26.3 million must pay Sikorsky International Operations Inc. an additional $9.77 million in offer-of-compromise interest after losing a lawsuit over the scrapped purchase of two helicopters, the Lockheed Martin-owned manufacturer told a Connecticut federal judge.

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Sig Sauer Claims Contractor Immunity In Gun Injury Suits

By Elaine Briseño

Sig Sauer told a Pennsylvania federal court it cannot be sued by a government agent accidentally shot in the leg after one of its P320 pistols allegedly spontaneously discharged, saying it has immunity as a government contractor.

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9th Circ. Revives County's $162M Environmental Coverage Bid

By Abraham Gross

The Ninth Circuit on Thursday revived a California county's suit seeking coverage of up to $162 million for environmental remediation efforts at an airport, reversing a lower court ruling that the policies were capped by an annual limit.

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Defense Parts Maker Elmet Group Prices Upsized $120M IPO

By Jade Martinez-Pogue

Private equity-backed defense parts manufacturer The Elmet Group Co. began trading publicly on Thursday after raising $120 million in its upsized initial public offering, steered by Ellenoff Grossman & Schole LLP and Thompson Coburn LLP.

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DOD Contractors May Be Overlooking Import Duty Exemption

In today's high-tariff environment, defense contractors and subcontractors should consider a nontraditional application of the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement’s duty-free exemption clause that might substantially reduce their import costs, says Jason Monahan at Honigman.

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New DEI Clauses Will Reshape FCA Exposure For Contractors

As federal agencies mandate new procurement language aimed at curbing contractors' DEI practices and embedding False Claims Act materiality concepts into antidiscrimination obligations, contractors should account for both compliance and litigation risks before signing, and understand the legal constraints that govern FCA materiality, say attorneys at Seyfarth.

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OFAC Signals Sanctions Diligence Can't Stop At 50% Rule

Recent guidance from the Office of Foreign Assets Control, along with several enforcement actions looking beyond the 50% formal ownership requirement, sends a clear message that sanctions due diligence must consider a variety of factors, including degree of control, practice of actual dealings and the involvement of proxies, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.

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New FCC Router Rule Signals Shifting Supply Chain Approach

The Federal Communications Commission's recent addition of consumer-grade routers newly produced outside of the U.S. to its covered list marks another notable expansion of the Trump administration's supply chain risk regulation and national security policy, directly affecting manufacturers, carriers and service providers, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

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Series

Officiating Football Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Though they may seem to have little in common, officiating football has sharpened many of the same skills that define effective lawyering in management-side labor and employment: preparation, judgment, composure, credibility and ability to make difficult decisions in real time, says Josh Nadreau at Fisher Phillips.

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DLA Piper Clears Vote To End Verein, Unify Leadership

By Tracey Read

DLA Piper announced Friday that firm partners on both sides of the Atlantic have "overwhelmingly approved" a plan to dissolve its Swiss verein structure effective May 1.

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Exclusive

Judge Albright Reflects On 8 Years Shaping Patent Law

By Dani Kass

U.S. District Judge Alan Albright will be walking away from the Western District of Texas at the end of the summer, ready to head back into patent litigation work. He talked with Law360 on Friday about the rockier elements of his judgeship and lessons he'll take into private practice.

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Commerce Department's General Counsel Departs

By Christine DeRosa

The U.S. Department of Commerce's general counsel has left the agency after just over a year, the agency confirmed on Friday.

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GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Sue Reisinger

In what may be a first, a federal judge has ordered BJ's Wholesale Club to put an investor's climate-related proxy proposal up for a vote of the shareholders at the company's annual meeting. And a new study shows that more in-house counsel are staying in place despite pay increases slowing amid less competition for talent.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

Consovoy McCarthy PLLC, Butler Prather LLP, Bowen Painter LLC and Cannella Snyder LLC lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Fluor Corp. can be held liable for a veteran's state-based injury claims stemming from a 2016 suicide bombing in Afghanistan.

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UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

By Laura Stewart Liberty

The past week in London has seen a Hong Kong company sue the government and a COVID-19 PPE company linked to Tory peer Michelle Mone, an oligarch bring a fresh claim against a rival in a long-running feud, a rugby league club sue over a canceled mass dance event, and Visa and Mastercard hit with legal action from H&M, Eurostar, and Bang & Olufsen. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

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Oregon Lawyer Ordered To Pay Attorney Fees For Use Of AI

By Matt Perez

An Oregon attorney was sanctioned by a state appellate court for filing a brief containing a fabricated list of authorities because she used generative artificial intelligence, marking the first case in the jurisdiction to present the option of awarding attorney fees as a sanction as opposed to fines payable to the court.

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Akin Can't 'Recast' Appeal As Good-Faith Effort, 9th Circ. Told

By Lauren Berg

A European winemaker slammed attempts by a U.S. importer and its Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP attorneys to "recast a frivolous appeal as a good-faith effort," saying they should have to pay monetary sanctions for pursuing what the Ninth Circuit called a "self-indulgent" appeal of a valid arbitration award.

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Atty, Brother Say Father's Last Will Altered In Secret

By Emily Sawicki

A Blank Rome LLP attorney and his brother have sued the attorney who executed their father's will in New Jersey federal court, alleging the lawyer preyed on their ailing father toward the end of his life to alter his beneficiaries through undue influence, forgery and fraud.

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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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