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The NAM filed an amicus brief in a product liability suit in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit urging the court to reverse a $663 million lower court judgement against Trinity Industries for allegedly defrauding the federal government despite the government’s determination that Trinity’s product had consistently complied with the applicable federal requirements. This case is important to manufacturers as NAM members contract directly and indirectly with the government. The NAM’s brief argued that 1) the claim was not a False Claims Act (FCA) claim because the government expressly disagreed the claim was false and 2) the decision created uncertainty and devastating consequences for businesses both in terms of financial costs and in reputational harm from an unwarranted FCA suit. In a win for manufacturers, the Fifth Circuit overturned the lower court’s ruling, thus lessening the likelihood that a business would be held liable under the FCA after relying on authoritative assurance of compliance from the government.

The NAM and the Shipbuilders Council of America filed an amicus brief 10/9/03 supporting Trinity's appeal of an adverse decision by the Occupational Safety & Health Review Commission relating to a citation involving hot work in a confined space. OSHA cited the company under a general standard, while its regulations say that if a particular standard is "specifically applicable" to a practice, then the particular standard prevails over any different general standard. We argued that particular standards should prevail over general standards for good reasons: particular situations may involve different feasibility, cost-benefit and significant-risk considerations, and specific standards give employers greater notice of their requirements. On 7/23/04, the Court denied the appeal, ruling that the general standard covered more than the specific and was not preempted to that extent.