BarbriSFCourseDetails

Course Details

This CLE webinar will discuss litigating personal injury claims arising in domestic commercial and general aviation accident cases. The panel will review theories of liability, defenses, discovery strategies, and the complexities involved with litigating and settling claims, as well as offer legal and practical considerations when bringing or defending aviation claims.

Faculty

Description

Investigating and litigating an aviation incident is complex and challenging. There are many different types of incidents, such as crashes, runway misses or skids, unruly passengers, turbulence, or contact with structures on the ground. Causes often overlap and combine to cause an accident and investigations can take months.

Claims typically sound in negligence or products liability in the operation, maintenance, or manufacture of the aircraft or its parts. Potential defendants include airlines, owners and operators of private aircraft, pilots, passengers, manufacturers, ground crew, maintenance crews, and a host of others. Attorneys must know how the National Safety Transportation Board (NTSB) investigates and determines causes, understand FAA regulations and related aviation statutes, including the General Aviation Revitalization Act of 1994, the Federal Tort Claims Act, and laws relating to unruly passengers, and be well-versed in preemption.

Aviation companies and parts manufacturers can present complex jurisdictional and choice of law problems. Federal agency involvement creates unique evidence preservation and spoliation issues. Special defenses may apply.

Listen as this panel of practitioners with experience litigating aviation incidents for both plaintiffs and defendants examines the aspects of these cases that make them unique. The program will outline theories of liability, discovery considerations, and practical strategies for pursuing or defending claims.

Outline

  1. Investigation
  2. Choice of forum, law
  3. Theories of liability
  4. Defenses
  5. Discovery
  6. Insurance
  7. Settlement

Benefits

The panel will review these and other key considerations:

  • How are airliner accidents different from private aircraft accidents?
  • Can NTSB findings be discovered, used, or challenged in court?
  • What is the role of insurance in aviation accidents?
  • When is state law preempted in aviation litigation?