Advising domestic airlines and aviation companies, the team at King & Spalding is well-equipped to handle an array of litigation and regulation matters, including intellectual property disputes, class action suits, international arbitrations, and wider cross-border litigation. Co-leading the team from Washington DC, Stephen Baskin has vast litigation and trial experience, particularly in patent litigation and trade secrets. Leading alongside him is David Balser, based in Atlanta, who undertakes a range of high-stakes contract disputes and professional liability litigation. In Los Angeles, Arwen Johnson is a key contact for a range of class action, partnership disputes, and copyright infringement matters. Also in DC, Dara Kurlanchee specializes in complex patent litigation.
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Key clients
- Air Canada
- Delta Air Lines, Inc.
- Embraer
- GOL Linhas Aéreas S.A
- JetBlue
- Jetcraft
- Lufthansa
- United Airlines
Work highlights
Defending Delta Air Lines in a class action arising from an engine failure on Delta Flight 89 shortly after it departed LAX.
Enforcing an award of more than $25M issued to Air Canada in an ICSID arbitration against Venezuela relating to the blocked repatriation of the proceeds of ticket sales in the country.
Representing Delta Air Lines, Inc. in connection with a class action lawsuit alleging that the airline misrepresented the total environmental impact of its business operations by holding itself out as a “carbon-neutral airline.”
Practice head
Stephen Baskin; David Balser
Other key lawyers
Arwen Johnson; Dara Kurlanchee