For Attorneys

Bringing integrity from the left seat to your case.

If you are evaluating an aviation matter, this page is the short version: what I can assess, how engagements begin, and what you can expect from me.

Five Questions I Ask in Every Case

After an aviation event, these are the questions I ask. They are the same ones you will be asking, and so will opposing counsel.

Was the operation legal? The regulations set the floor: Parts 91, 121, and 135 for the operation, Part 117 for crew rest. Most operations pass this question. It is the easiest one, and it settles very little.

What did the operator’s own documents say? Operations manuals, the fatigue risk management plan, the SMS manual. These are the operator’s promises to the FAA, and they are compared line by line against what the schedule, the dispatch release, and the crew actually did.

Was the crew trained and checked to do it? Training programs and check airman standards decide whether a procedure in the manual ever reached the cockpit. A line check that signed off on a habit the manual prohibits is evidence, in both directions.

Did the crew do what they were trained to do? Standard operating procedures, crew resource management, and the decisions made in the last few minutes. This is the question juries think the case is about. It is the most visible one, and rarely the only one that matters.

Did anyone see it coming? The Safety Management System, the fatigue reports, the operational control desk. A pattern of reports that nobody acted on is a different case from an event with no warning at all.

A legal schedule and a compliant manual are where the analysis starts, not where it ends. I work through each of these questions from the seat the crew was in.

What I Can Assess

The full list, from crew performance to Part 117 and SMS adequacy, is on the Expert Witness page.

Boeing 787 flight deck at the gate with the flight paperwork clipped to the yoke

How Engagements Begin

A conflict check first, always. Then a case evaluation and records review, followed by a scope discussion before any formal retention. You will get a candid early read, including where the technical record is weak. I do not offer testimony I cannot support on the merits, and I would rather tell you that in the first conversation than in a draft report.

What You Can Expect

Reports that meet Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26, or the state rule that applies. Technical material explained in plain language for judges and juries. Work scheduled around your case deadlines. Available to plaintiff and defense counsel, insurers, and aviation organizations nationwide.