Aviation

From risk avoidance counsel through game-changing litigation, Butler Snow’s Aviation Group guides clients through every stage to secure the best possible outcome.

Our multidisciplinary team of regulatory, product liability defense, insurance and crisis management lawyers possesses decades of experience in representing aviation industry clients. We have an impressive record in defending aircraft owners and operators, and manufacturers of airplanes, helicopters, aircraft engines, airframes and other components in complex, high-stakes product liability cases.

From single-party claims to multiparty, multidistrict litigation, mass tort cases and class actions, our lawyers resolve cases via early motions, at trial, on appeal and through negotiated settlements based on our clients’ short-term goals and long-term objectives.

At the soonest possible moment following notice of a catastrophic accident or loss, our team begins crafting a defense. Working closely with renowned industry experts that include cause and origin experts, accident reconstructionists and investigators, forensics examiners, metallurgists, mechanical engineers, and others, as needed, we evaluate the evidence, assess damages and causation, scrutinize claims and advise our clients every step of the way with an eye toward both regulatory investigations and litigation.

Our Aviation Group structures defense teams based on the facts, circumstance and issues of each individual case. Collaborating with lawyers throughout the firm, we handle everything from damage containment, regulatory inquiries and investigations through federal and state court litigation and post-incident remediation and recovery.

We routinely try cases to verdict and have prevailed in cases alleging negligence, strict liability, breach of warranty, catastrophic injury, death, property loss, design and manufacturing defects, failure to warn and other claims. Our lawyers craft clear and convincing arguments and are adept at arguing causation defenses. We also have an impressive record in obtaining favorable liability-sharing and risk-transfer rulings and in winning dismissals based on jurisdictional and other procedural grounds as well as securing dismissals on substantive grounds.

With knowledge of the federal and state laws and regulations applicable to the industry, our lawyers conduct internal investigations and represent clients in federal and state government and regulator investigation as well as in court. Members of our team have successfully represented clients before the NTSB, the Department of Homeland Security and its TSA division, the FTA, the FAA, and the DOJ.

Our litigation experience includes:

We also provide comprehensive counsel to manufacturers, insurers and other key industry stakeholders, negotiating and drafting aviation industry transactions, advising on day-to-day legal issues and regulatory matters and using insurance coverage to limit and often avoid liability. We review and make recommendations regarding best practices and safety measures and advise on crisis and risk management strategies. In this way, we help our clients limit their liability exposure and best position them for success should an action arise.