Aviation

For over thirty years, Wiggin and Dana’s Aviation practice has represented leading designers, manufacturers, carriers, owners, operators, and insurers, including Fortune 500 companies and other businesses, large and small. We take pride in our ability to understand our clients’ businesses and work collaboratively to achieve their objectives.

In litigation matters, we have successfully resolved – by jury and bench trial, arbitration, mediation, and negotiation – cases involving fixed wing and rotorcraft accidents as well as a variety of commercial and other disputes throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. We have also counseled and assisted aviation clients with the successful resolution of substantial claims pre-litigation. We recently served, for example, as lead trial counsel for a major equipment manufacturer in a multidistrict litigation arising out of a helicopter accident involving substantial wrongful death and personal injury claims, lead trial counsel for an aircraft manufacturer defending against substantial hull loss and lost profit claims, lead trial counsel for a component parts manufacturer defending the company against substantial personal injury claims arising out of the explosion of oxygen equipment, and as lead trial counsel for another component parts manufacturer in litigation concerning substantial wrongful death claims arising out of a military aircraft accident in Afghanistan. We also have experience representing insurers of aircraft, satellites, and aviation industry service providers in various matters relating to coverage, physical damage, liability to third parties, and recoveries. We are familiar with policy wordings providing coverage for physical damage to aircraft and aerospace equipment, and for liability to third parties, and our trial lawyers also have successfully pursued subrogation claims against third parties.

In transactional matters, we regularly counsel clients on acquisition and procurement agreements, and pre-suit identification of disputed contract claims and defenses. We also have substantial, in-depth international trade compliance experience, including with the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), Export Administration Regulations (EAR), embargo and sanction regimes including those enforced by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), anti-boycott restrictions, and other trade compliance regulations.

As members of a full-service law firm, we are able to draw on the substantial experience of our colleagues in our other services, including International Trade Compliance, Product Liability, Emerging Companies and Venture Capital, Intellectual Property, Mergers and Acquisitions, Taxation, and Technology and Outsourcing, to name but a few.