Aerospace & Defense

  • January 31, 2025

    SpaceX Likely To Beat Sanctions Bid In Pay Equity Case

    A California state judge said Friday that he probably won't sanction SpaceX for supposedly missing a deadline to pay an arbitration retainer tied to a proposed class action accusing Elon Musk's aerospace company of underpaying women and minorities.

  • January 31, 2025

    January's IPO Market Was Active Despite Tepid Debuts

    Capital markets lawyers kept busy in January thanks to a sizable increase in initial public offerings, but the largest IPOs performed weaker than expected, likely sobering market participants' expectations going forward.

  • January 31, 2025

    9th Circ. Affirms Aerospace Co. Code Meets Fair Use Standard

    Aerospace contractor Astronics has convinced Ninth Circuit judges that the code used in its replacement parts is covered by the same fair use protections created by the U.S. Supreme Court's Google v. Oracle decision.

  • January 31, 2025

    India Gets Reprieve In $112M Telecom Award Suit

    An Australian appeals court ruled Friday that India can't be held liable for a $112 million arbitral award in a dispute over a terminated deal to deliver communications services, citing a carveout that grants it sovereign immunity in the dispute.

  • January 31, 2025

    Texas Demands Jury Trial In 'Forever Chemical' Suit

    The state of Texas called on a federal judge to grant it a jury trial in litigation against 3M, DuPont and others for alleged "misrepresentations and key omissions" they made about so-called forever chemicals.

  • January 31, 2025

    Full DC Circ. Will Not Review White House NEPA Power Ruling

    The D.C. Circuit on Friday rejected petitions for en banc review of a panel's ruling that the White House does not have the legal authority to promulgate regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act.

  • January 31, 2025

    Bezos Satellite Co. Gets Reprieve In Docs Fight With His Paper

    A Washington state court official has temporarily blocked the state labor department from releasing records linked to investigations at an internet satellite facility launched by Jeff Bezos' Amazon, in a public records battle with The Washington Post, a newspaper also owned by the billionaire.

  • January 31, 2025

    Supreme Court Eyes Its 'Next Frontier' In FCC Delegation Case

    A case about broadband subsidies will give the U.S. Supreme Court the chance to revive a long-dormant separation of powers principle that attorneys say could upend regulations in numerous industries and trigger a power shift that would make last term's shake-up of federal agency authority pale in comparison. And a majority of the court already appears to support its resurrection.

  • January 31, 2025

    Former Fed Adviser Charged With Spying For China

    A former senior adviser to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors was arrested Friday on charges of stealing confidential data for the government of China, which prosecutors said could be used to conduct market manipulation.

  • January 31, 2025

    Honeywell Handed Win In Aircraft-Brake Parts Duty Dispute

    Honeywell International Inc. has won its dispute with U.S. Customs and Border Protection over imported parts used to make aircraft brake discs, with the U.S. Court of International Trade agreeing the parts were incorrectly classified and should be duty-free.

  • January 31, 2025

    Tribes Back Bid At 4th Circ. To Undo Army Burial Order

    Two South Dakota tribes that successfully repatriated the remains of their children from a U.S. Army Indian boarding school cemetery in Pennsylvania told the Fourth Circuit that it's problematic that a lower court ruled that a law designed to protect Native American graves doesn't apply to the site.

  • January 31, 2025

    Explosives Biz Plugs €200M Into Finland TNT Facility

    Comprehensive explosives service company Forcit unveiled plans Friday to invest over €200 million ($207.4 million) into the construction of a new TNT facility in Finland, with state-owned private equity shop Tesi helping to negotiate investments in the production plant project.

  • February 12, 2025

    Law360 Seeks Members For Its 2025 Editorial Boards

    Law360 is looking for avid readers of our publications to serve as members of our 2025 editorial advisory boards.

  • January 31, 2025

    Trump Funding Freeze Blocked As Court Doubts Reversal

    A Rhode Island federal judge on Friday issued a temporary restraining order barring the Trump administration from freezing spending on federal grant and aid programs, calling the move illegal and saying the issue was not mooted by a White House memo claiming the directive had been rescinded.

  • January 30, 2025

    AA Jet And Army Helicopter Crash: What We Know So Far

    The midair collision between an American Airlines regional jet and a U.S. Army helicopter over the Potomac River will spark multiple inquiries and regulatory actions on air traffic control procedures and flight paths that may raise sticky questions about the scope of the federal government's liability in future litigation, experts say.

  • January 30, 2025

    Advocates Warn Of Abuses In Detaining Migrants At Guantánamo

    Civil and immigrant rights advocates said Thursday that the Trump administration's proposed use of Naval Station Guantánamo Bay to detain unauthorized immigrants raises a host of legal concerns, including the potential for due process and human rights violations.

  • January 30, 2025

    DC Circ. Weighs Mootness In DOD's Time-In-Service Appeal

    A D.C. Circuit panel on Thursday wrestled with mootness in the federal government's appeal of a ruling that blocked the U.S. Department of Defense from setting service duration requirements for noncitizen soldiers to become citizens, questioning whether the 2021 recission of the policy leaves anything to rule on.

  • January 30, 2025

    Buddhist Temple Urges Halt To Army Corps' Everglades Plan

    A Buddhist temple on Thursday urged a Florida federal court to temporarily halt a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' restoration project in the Everglades set to begin next week, saying the impacts of construction will deter visitors to the temple and disrupt its First Amendment right to religious freedom.

  • January 30, 2025

    Canadian Pot Equipment CEO Says CBP Illegally Booted Him

    The Canadian CEO of a company that makes cannabis agricultural equipment has sued the U.S. Homeland Security Department and Customs and Border Protection, saying they detained him at the U.S.-Canada border and ordered his removal for allegedly abetting the spread of narcotics despite a prior U.S. Court of International Trade finding that his company was operating legally.

  • January 30, 2025

    Ligado Creditor Pans 'Exorbitant' Fees For $115M DIP Loan

    Satellite communications company Ligado Networks LLC's largest unsecured creditor asked a Delaware bankruptcy judge to reject the company's proposed $115 million Chapter 11 financing package, saying Ligado's secured lenders were seeking to help themselves to $100 million in fees as part of the deal.

  • January 30, 2025

    Rumors Fly As Trump Seeks Deal To Keep TikTok Alive

    President Donald Trump seems to be getting exactly the "bidding war" he wanted as multiple entities fight for a role in keeping TikTok available in the U.S. Here, Law360 provides a rundown of the latest rumors and developments in the TikTok saga, along with other notable rumors from the past week.

  • January 30, 2025

    Nelson Mullins-Led Serco Unit To Buy Defense Biz For $327M

    Serco Group PLC said Thursday that a subsidiary has agreed to buy a defense software business from U.S. aerospace giant Northrop Grumman Corp. for $327 million, allowing it to tap into the "huge" sector as geopolitical tensions threaten to boil over.

  • January 29, 2025

    Trump Orders Guantánamo Prep For 30K 'Criminal' Migrants

    President Donald Trump on Wednesday directed the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to prepare Naval Station Guantánamo Bay to detain tens of thousands of "high-priority criminal" undocumented migrants, a move he previewed before signing an anticipated law aimed at detaining migrants charged with certain offenses.

  • January 29, 2025

    4th Circ. Mulls If Tossing No-Poach Suit Rewards Bad Behavior

    As the Fourth Circuit mulled the idea of reviving a proposed class action accusing military shipbuilding contractors of agreeing not to poach each other's engineers, one judge rebuffed the idea that the suit had no legs because there were no specific allegations of fraudulent concealment.

  • January 29, 2025

    USPTO Backlog 'Unacceptable,' Trump's Commerce Pick Says

    Commerce secretary nominee Howard Lutnick said at his confirmation hearing Wednesday that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's backlog of unexamined patent applications is "unacceptable," and pledged to work to reduce it so that patents are issued more quickly.

Expert Analysis

  • 5 Notable Information Security Events In 2024

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    B. Stephanie Siegmann at Hinckley Allen discusses 2024's largest and most destructive data breaches seen yet, ranging from ransomware disrupting U.S. healthcare systems on a massive scale, to tensions increasing between the U.S. and China over cyberespionage and the control of U.S. data.

  • Series

    Playing Rugby Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My experience playing rugby, including a near-fatal accident, has influenced my legal practice on a professional, organizational and personal level by showing me the importance of maintaining empathy, fostering team empowerment and embracing the art of preparation, says James Gillenwater at Greenberg Traurig.

  • How 2025 NDAA May Affect DOD Procurement Protests

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    A bid protest pilot program included in the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act shifts litigation costs onto unsuccessful bid protesters and raises claim-filing thresholds, which could increase risks to U.S. Department of Defense contractors who file protests, and reduce oversight of DOD procurement awards, say attorneys at Venable.

  • Nippon, US Steel Face Long Odds On Merger Challenge

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    Following the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States' review of Japan's Nippon Steel's proposed acquisition of U.S. Steel, the companies face a formidable uphill battle in challenging the president's exercise of authority to block the deal on national security grounds, say attorneys at Kirkland.

  • Opinion

    No, Litigation Funders Are Not 'Fleeing' The District Of Del.

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    A recent study claimed that litigation funders have “fled” Delaware federal court due to a standing order requiring disclosure of third-party financing, but responsible funders have no problem litigating in this jurisdiction, and many other factors could explain the decline in filings, say Will Freeman and Sarah Tsou at Omni Bridgeway.

  • 5 E-Discovery Predictions For 2025 And Beyond

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    In the year to come, e-discovery will be shaped by new and emerging trends, from the adoption of artificial intelligence provisions in protective orders, to the proliferation of emojis as a source of evidence in contemporary litigation, say attorneys at Littler.

  • Preparing For Mexican Drug Cartels' Terrorist Designation

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    In the event President-elect Donald Trump designates Mexican drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, businesses will need to consider how their particular industry is affected and evaluate previously legitimate practices given the cartels' involvement so many sectors of the economy, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

  • What To Expect From Federal Cybersecurity Policy In 2025

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    There are 12 cyber policy questions to keep an eye on as the new administration and Republican control of Congress present an opportunity to advance less regulatory approaches and revisit some choices from the prior administration, say attorneys at Wiley.

  • Republican Trifecta Amplifies Risks For Cos. In 3 Key Areas

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    Expected coordination between a Republican Congress and presidential administration may expose companies to simultaneous criminal, civil and congressional investigations, particularly with regard to supply chain risks in certain industries, government contracting and cross-border investment, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Bid Protest Spotlight: Certification, Lateness, SBA Eligibility

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    In this month's bid protest roundup, Cody Fisher at MoFo examines three recent decisions from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and the U.S. Government Accountability Office that address the treatment of a proposal that was timely submitted but received late, and highlight nuances of certification and small business eligibility requirements.

  • Anticipating The Maritime Sector's Future Under Trump 2.0

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    With the Republicans taking control of a governance trifecta, the maritime sector should brace for both familiar leadership and new change that could significantly shift shipping and defense priorities, say attorneys at Holland & Knight.

  • 6 Predictions For Cyber Risk And Insurance In 2025

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    This year is likely to bring with it some thorny and expensive cyber challenges, including increased ransomware activity, more data breach class actions and continued efforts to define business interruption loss calculations, say attorneys at Wiley.

  • 7 Ways 2nd Trump Administration May Affect Partner Hiring

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    President-elect Donald Trump's return to the White House will likely have a number of downstream effects on partner hiring in the legal industry, from accelerated hiring timelines to increased vetting of prospective employees, say recruiters at Macrae.

  • How Trump 2.0 May Change Business In Latin America

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    Companies in Latin America should expect to face more trade restrictions, tighter economic sanctions and enhanced corruption risks, as the incoming administration shifts focus to certain non-U.S. actors, most notably China, says Matteson Ellis at Miller & Chevalier.

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Rulings On Custodian Selection

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    Several recent rulings make clear that the proportionality of additional proposed custodians will depend on whether the custodians have unique relevant documents, and producing parties should consider whether information already in the record will show that they have relevant documents that otherwise might not be produced, say attorneys at Sidley.

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