The Legal 500

Condon & Forsyth LLP’s ‘widely admired’ practice provides ‘a consistently high level of service’ and continues to enjoy a solid reputation as one of the leading firms for aerospace mass tort and product liability litigation. Its attributes include ‘industry knowledge that is always in-depth’ and its ‘excellent value for money’. Among the practice’s high-profile roles is its representation of American Airlines in property damage and wrongful death litigation arising from the World Trade Center terrorist attacks; and acting as lead counsel to Colgan Air regarding the crash of Continental Connection Flight 3407 near Buffalo, New York, in 2009. In the World Trade Center litigation, the group also acts as liaison counsel for all other airline, airport and security company defendants. It is also acting for Embraer in connection with the Henan Airlines ERJ-190 accident at Lindu Airport in China in August 2010. Other work includes representing parties in accidents arising from the Sudan Airways Flight 109 in Khartoum, Sudan; Airblue Flight 202 in Islamabad, Pakistan; and Aeroflot-Nord Flight 821 near Perm, Russia. Recent successes include the dismissal of a class action against British Airways in a case arising from transport disruptions involving more than 30,000 passengers. The Los Angeles office complements the New York team and is often involved in military product liability cases. The internationally renowned Desmond Barry and Christopher Christensen in New York, along with Los Angeles-based Frank Silane, ‘give practical and user-friendly advice’ and ‘look for solutions’. Also recommended are Scott Cunningham and Richard Lazenby in Los Angeles, as well as Stephen Stegich, David Harrington, John Horenstein and Marshall Turner in New York.

Cozen O’Connor’s aviation and product liability practice provides comprehensive and forceful defense of its clients’ interests. The firm has proven adept in acting both as national coordinating counsel and as lead trial counsel, and is renowned for its broad-ranging advice. The team served as defense counsel in product liability wrongful death suits relating to the bombing of PanAm Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, and advised TAM Airlines concerning an aircraft accident in 2007. Other clients include well-known aircraft and components manufacturers such as Bell Helicopter, Hartzell Propeller, Honeywell, Raytheon and United Instruments. The team also represents insurers, with US Aviation Underwriters a key client, and receives instructions from other carriers including ExcelAire private charter airline and from a mix of other aerospace-related clients such as Aero Kool and Jeppesen Sanderson. Airports and other facilities also draw on the firm’s highly regarded construction litigation team. The practice’s leading individuals include insurance litigator Thomas Harrington and Ann Thornton Field, who chairs the general litigation department. Both are based in Philadelphia. Also recommended is the firm’s vice-chairman Patrick O’Connor, who divides his time between Philadelphia and West Conshohocken.

Morrison & Foerster LLP’s ‘excellent’ and ‘superior’ practice ‘provides timely and responsive advice and handles cases with professionalism and expertise’. The team is ‘strong across the board’ and is regularly instructed on ‘high-exposure, high-profile aviation product liability litigation’. It has been retained by Honeywell International and its insurer to handle the investigation and potential litigation arising from the Air France 447 crash in June 2009. The firm also continues to act for the same client in litigation concerning the mid-air collision between a Boeing 737-800, operated as Gol Airlines Flight 1907, and an Embraer Legacy 600 operated by ExcelAire Services over the Amazon rainforest in Brazil in September 2006. The practice also represented Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company in six coordinated cases relating to the crash of a Goodyear Learjet in September 2008, all of which cases were settled for a nominal sum to avoid legal expenses. The firm is national coordinating counsel for Cessna Aircraft Company in a series of cases pending in various US jurisdictions arising from icing-related accidents involving Cessna Caravan 208 aircraft. Other key clients include Alaska Airlines, Columbia Helicopters and Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty. Practice co-chair Don Rushing is a hugely respected figure in the market and wins plaudits for ‘always being timely and sensitive to the needs of his clients’. He is ‘not only a top-tier litigator with excellent judgment, but with client management skills that are second to none’. Equally well respected is fellow co-chair James Huston, renowned for his expertise with military aircraft. Also recommended are William O’Connor, who specializes in significant commercial aviation cases, and William Janicki. All four are ‘superior lawyers who are very easy to work with’. New York-based Charles Kerr is well known and respected for advising major manufacturers on product liability issues, and Erin Bosman has a wealth of experience including the Honeywell litigation. All recommended partners are based in San Diego, except where noted otherwise.

Perkins Coie LLP’s ‘very strong’ practice has a long-established reputation as a premier player in the aviation field handling ‘high-profile, high-exposure work’, and has been a key provider of legal services to Boeing for more than a century. Said to be ‘one of the best for aviation litigation’, the firm primarily represents manufacturers of aircraft and components for civilian and military aircraft and satellites, although it also represents insurer Global Aerospace. The firm’s primary base in Seattle is supplemented by additional resources in Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington DC. Practice chair John Dillow is a key figure in the market and he continues to represent Boeing in litigation arising from the September 2005 crash of Mandala Airlines Flight 091, a Boeing 737-200 aircraft, on takeoff from Medan in Indonesia. The lawsuits were originally filed and consolidated in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, and were later re-filed in Indonesia, the first time that such a case has been tried in the country. The firm represents Boeing extensively, including serving as its worldwide helicopter crash counsel; the ‘phenomenal’ Steve Bell is regarded as one of the country’s foremost experts for cases involving helicopters. Joe Silvernale recently obtained a victory for Jeppesen – which specializes in aeronautical charting and navigation services, flight planning, pilot supplies and aviation training – in In re Comair Flight 5191. Other clients include aerials manufacturer Genie Industries, turboprop manufacturer Precision, and helicopter engine producer Turbomeca. V Woolston and Christian Moller, together with Bellevue-based Clark Nichols and Bruce Campbell, are very highly rated. Clients also recommend Thomas McLaughlin and David Biderman, who commutes between Los Angeles and San Francisco. All of the recommended partners are based in Seattle, except where noted.

Chicago-based litigation boutique Adler Murphy & McQuillen lacks the ancillary non-contentious practices available at full-service firms, but is widely admired for its ‘deep experience and technical knowledge’ of the aviation industry. This, together with its talented courtroom lawyers, makes it a go-to firm for a number of respected organizations. Over the years the firm has advised clients including AAR, Beech, Northwest Airlines, Southwest Airlines, Republic Airlines, S-Tec and United Airlines. Its track record of success includes helping Honeywell avoid court in relation to a Sikorsky helicopter crash in the Gulf of Mexico. The firm has also handled a number of aircraft crash investigations and subsequent litigation for Cessna and Cirrus. Michael McQuillan is highly rated and well renowned across the market. James Murphy and John Adler are also recommended.

Bryan Cave LLP primarily acts for aviation industry manufacturers. It handles all of Boeing’s McDonnell Douglas legacy cases, including litigation relating to the 154-fatality Spanair MD-82 accident in Madrid, Spain in August 2008. It also regularly receives instructions from Teledyne Continental Motors on aircraft accident personal injury and wrongful death claims nationally. Other clients include Guam Airport and the port authorities of New York and New Jersey. The aviation team’s standout partner is Jeffrey Morof in Chicago. R Bruce Duffield is also recommended, along with Washington DC-based Douglas Winter.

Hogan Lovells US LLP’s team is ‘excellence personified’, regarded by some as one that is ‘never outsmarted’. Key to its standing is the firm’s relationship with Airbus SAS, the world’s largest airframe manufacturer, for which it acts as national counsel. Recent examples of work for this client include acting on the case of Air France Flight 447, which crashed into the Atlantic Ocean en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris in June 2009. Following the accident, plaintiffs from a dozen countries including the US brought product defect claims against Airbus. Judge Breyer agreed that plaintiffs’ claims – including those by two US citizens – should be removed to France on grounds of forum non conveniens, and the litigation remains ongoing. Hogan & Hartson LLP’s merger with Lovells has also exposed the practice to a wider market. Practice head Thad Dameris is ‘a valuable lawyer: humble, reflective and always on the money’. He and his team ‘enjoy the respect of peers, competitors and clients’. Those singled out within the team include Bruce Oakley, ‘an anchor of the team’ whose ‘insights as a former judge and trial lawyer are key’. Washington DC-based David Weiner made partner in 2009 and is ‘an oracle of legal knowledge’ who has ‘the highest academic decorations combined with a persuasive ability well beyond his junior partner status’. Senior associate Christopher Odell is an up-and-comer who ‘shows promise’ and is ‘really starting to distinguish himself in the market’, and is ‘asked for by name by top people on the trickiest matters’. Trevor Jefferies is also recommended. All recommended attorneys are based in Houston except where stated otherwise.

Nixon Peabody LLP’s longstanding and significant aviation practice has expanded from the West to East Coast, with New York-based Joseph Ortego at the forefront. The firm has a solid reputation as an authority on National Transportation Safety Board crash investigations and represents a mix of aircraft and component manufacturers, insurers and airplane operators. Examples of recent work include defending EADS/Aerospatiale in litigation arising from the Concorde jet crash at Gonesse, France in 2000. It also represented a major airline in concluding a national class action relating to passenger ticketing. Other clients include AIG Aviation, Airbus Industrie, ATR, Bell Helicopters, Comair and Eurocopter. The bulk of the practice is located in San Francisco and includes Brian Dalrymple, who has extensive experience of NTSB investigations and product liability litigation. Stephen Johnson is also recommended.

Reed Smith LLP’s ‘excellent’ practice includes highly respected Princeton-based Patrick Bradley, who formerly worked for the US Department of Justice’s Civil Division, Aviation and Admiralty, before becoming the group’s practice leader. The firm has developed expertise in cases involving the design or manufacture of an aircraft or component parts, aircraft and airline operations and aircraft maintenance. It is defending aviation electronics manufacturer Rockwell Collins in litigation relating to the Air France Flight 447 crash. The firm also serves as lead counsel to Continental Airlines in litigation relating to the 50-fatality crash of Continental Connection Flight 3407 near Buffalo, New York, in February 2009. New York-based Oliver Beiersdorf is recommended, along with Washington DC-based of counsel Courtney Bateman, a former FAA counsel.

Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis LLP’s aviation group meshes its services with the firm’s wider product liability practice and combines contentious and non-contentious capabilities. Its responsive litigators have an excellent reputation and have a caseload that encompasses litigation arising from aircraft accidents. It has been advising Cessna on complex product liability litigation nationally and is national counsel for Freescale Semiconductor and Motorola in relation to aviation electronics liability. Other clients include AIG Aviation, Chartis Aerospace Adjustment Services, Global Aerospace, Pratt & Whitney, as well as Esterline and its subsidiary Leach International. Philadelphia-based J Denny Shupe and Ralph Wellington, the firm’s chairman, are ‘excellent, attentive and quick to respond’.

Sidley Austin LLP’s aviation practice is part of the firm’s wider product liability practice. It has recently been acting on three cases against General Electric, Boeing and others relating to a Kenya Airways airplane crash in Cameroon that claimed 114 lives in 2007; plaintiffs have alleged negligent design and/or manufacture of the aircraft and its components. The cases were removed from the Northern District of Illinois by a forum non conveniens motion. Other clients include GE Commercial Aviation Services (GECAS) and American Airlines. Washington DC-based Lory Barsdate Eaton is recommended. In 2010, Sheila Sundvall left the Chicago office to join Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker LLP.

The outstanding Roger Podesta heads the team at Debevoise & Plimpton, which has earned a solid reputation predominantly on the basis of its extensive and ongoing representation of American Airlines in the multibillion-dollar World Trade Center litigation, in which the firm is co-counsel alongside Condon & Forsyth LLP. While the firm does not maintain an everyday aviation litigation practice like the top-tier firms, its inclusion here is recognition that it can handle, and will be sought for, top matters for the largest aviation industry clients.

Dombroff Gilmore Jaques & French focuses primarily on trial and litigation, regularly acting for insurers, airports, light aircraft owners and manufacturers in the civilian and military aviation sectors. The firm is national product liability counsel to Mooney Aircraft and Piper Aircraft Irrevocable Product Trust. It also represents airports – including Chicago O’Hare, Atlanta Hartsfield and Miami International – through AIG Aviation’s Airports Litigation Program. Other clients include Cessna, Associated Aviation Underwriters, Northwest Airlines, Phoenix Aviation Underwriters and Southwest Airlines. Mark Dombroff in Washington DC is highly recommended.

Holland & Knight LLP has a well-known and respected aviation practice, of which litigation is the largest component. Displaying ‘strong expertise’, the group is ‘among the leaders in aviation defense’ and is regularly instructed to defend mass air disaster cases and smaller aviation accidents, with clients including US and foreign airlines and manufacturers of aircraft and aircraft components. The team operates principally out of New York but has additional capacity in Florida and California. BAE Systems is a key client, which it serves as lead counsel. The group is also lead counsel for Société Air France, which it is representing in litigation relating to the Air France Flight 447 crash, and for Turkish Airlines in connection with the Flight 1951 crash in Amsterdam. Other clients include UPS and AIRES. Clients thoroughly recommend aviation team chair Randal Craft and Alan Reitzfeld. Both are based in New York and ‘are very knowledgeable individuals who always exercise good judgment’.

Jones Day’s clients include component manufacturers such as Dow Corning, Lycoming Engines (and parent company Textron), Parker Hannifin, and carrier Swissair. Recently quiet on the litigation front, its aviation lawyers have focused on regulatory and finance work. Past work examples have included acting for Parker Hannifin, representing the company as a co-defendant in claims arising from the crash of Flash Airlines Flight 604, a Bowing 737-300 aircraft that crashed into the Red Sea off the Eqyptian coastline in January 2004. It has also represented Parker Hannifin in wrongful death suits relating to a Cessna crash in Argentina, and a Beech aircraft crash in Oregon. The team is based primarily out of Pittsburgh and Dallas, but is boosted by additional resources in London and Paris. Recommended attorneys include John Goetz and Dana Baiocco in Pittsburgh, Robert Walker in Cleveland, alongside Dallas-based Thomas Fennell and Michael Rice.

Treece Alfrey Musat & Bosworth is a Denver-based firm which enjoys an excellent reputation for representing airlines, fixed base operators, and commercial and private pilots and owners. The firm has been acting for Bombardier in the NTSB inquiry and litigation arising from the crash of Colgan Air’s Continental Connection Flight 3407, a Bombardier Q400 aircraft, near Buffalo, New York; it is chief legal trial counsel for the ongoing MDL. It represented Learjet concerning the Mexico City crash of a Mexican government Learjet 45, and is acting for ExcelAire Aviation Services and its underwriters in arbitration in London concerning the Brazilian crash of Gol Flight 1907. Recent wins include a complete defense verdict in a case for Excel Aerospace. Aviation group chair L Richard Musat is a highly rated as a litigator and for his performances in the courtroom. Mark Pottinger is another ‘go-to person for trial work’.