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Aviation
Not surprisingly, an industry that serves hundreds of millions
of consumers annually will endure its share of litigation. Commercial
air carriers, airframe and component parts manufacturers, general
aviation operations and their insurers expect their law firms
to aggressively defend their interests while understanding the
business realities that are crucial to their survival.
Berger Kahn represents many of the major and regional domestic and foreign
air carriers in cases involving passenger personal injuries and wrongful death, racial
and disability discrimination claims and breach of contract issues. In addition, Berger Kahn has represented manufacturers and general aviation interests in product liability cases involving catastrophic injuries and wrongful death.
The firm’s approach to each case is to aggressively pursue discovery,
within the guidelines established upon assignment, with the goal
to place the matter in a posture enabling our client to reach
a decision as to settlement versus trial at the earliest possible
time.
The firm’s aviation group is comprised of seasoned litigators
and is led by an aviation defense attorney with more than 25 years
of experience in cases ranging from routine tort and contract
claims to major accidents and terrorist incidents. Additionally,
the group leader has worked within the aviation insurance industry
and has insight into the market’s requirements of its defense
counsel. As such, our attorneys can offer our aviation clients
the following:
- An approach to litigation that emphasizes the client’s need to
make an early assessment of the liability and damage issues in
a case, and the experience and resources to take any case through
trial when necessary.
- A team of lawyers with the technology and experience to deal effectively
with the multi-district litigation arising out of major incidents
or disasters.
- The understanding that “winning” a case at a cost that far exceeds
its potential value or that nevertheless results in adverse publicity
for our client is rarely desirable.
- Pre-litigation counseling with respect to liability issues and
emergency preparedness, and post-accident counseling and witness
preparation concerning NTSB investigations and hearings.
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- Berger Kahn’s attorneys recognize that most aviation cases do
not improve with age. We are confident that our approach to these
issues ensures that informed decision making by our clients can
take place with respect to the conduct of the litigation.
Notable Representations
- Represented a major airline in 80+ wrongful death claims arising out of a crash off the California coast. The actions were multidistricted in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
- Represented the captain and first officer of a domestic airline in connection with the passenger injury claims arising out of an accident at Burbank, California. After landing at Burbank Airport, the airplane went through a perimeter fence and onto a city street. The United States District Court for the Central District of California granted the pilots' motion for summary judgment on the coordinated plaintiffs' punitive damages claim.
- Obtained summary judgment for a foreign aircraft manufacturer on an $8
million indemnity claim brought by an air carrier in a product liability
action. The court agreed that the terms of the aircraft purchase
agreement precluded the air carrier from pursuing its indemnity claims
against the manufacturer, and that the agreement's exculpatory clause
did not violate public policy.
- Obtained summary judgment for a domestic carrier (affirmed by the Court of Appeal) in an action brought by an obese passenger who was required to purchase two tickets. The court ruled that the airline's requirement was neither discriminatory nor outrageous as a matter of law.
- Obtained summary judgment on behalf of airlines in a discrimination action in which the plaintiffs (two California Highway Patrol officers) claimed to have been the victims of post-9/11 racial profiling.
- Represented the estate of the pilot of a Eurocopter AS350-B2 helicopter in wrongful death and catastrophic injury cases arising out of the crash of a sight-seeing flight near the Grand Canyon.
- Represented the manufacturer of the accelerometer of an Apache helicopter that crashed near Tikrit, Iraq, severly injuring the two servicemen aboard.
CONTACT:
Arthur I. Willner
awillner@bergerkahn.com
(310) 821-9000
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