Aviation

Aviation accident law covers both major air carriers (commercial airlines) and general aviation accidents. General aviation includes charter flights, small planes, pleasure crafts, large business jets, helicopters, and hang gliders. It is a combination of personal injury and wrongful death litigation that involves complex aviation laws, regulations, and international treaties. It is so intricate that only a select group of lawyers practice aviation law.  In the last 40+ years, Clifford Law Offices has represented victims…

The tragic crash of a Gulfstream IV-SP that killed all nine aboard on December 15, 2021, at Santo Domingo’s airport is the same type of aircraft that was involved in a crash at Chicago’s Palwaukee Airport that killed all three on board in 1996. Clifford Law Offices represented two of the three in that crash: the co-pilot of the corporate jet and a passenger. Robert A. Clifford and Richard F. Burke, partners at the firm,…

  John V. Kalantzis learned early on the value of helping others through tough situations. The son of Greek immigrants, he grew up watching the frustrations and confusion his parents faced on a day-to-day basis as they tried to navigate their newfound culture and society. Their struggles became one of the chief motivators behind John eventually pursuing a career in law and representing victims of wrongdoing who might not otherwise have a voice with which…

On October 19, 2021, families and friends who lost loved ones in the crash of a Boeing 737 MAX jet in 2019 are asking the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to terminate the aircraft maker’s ability to certify its own airplanes, a provision allowed in a program called the Organization Designation Authority (ODA) that allows third parties to perform functions of the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA). Hundreds of family and friends of the 157 people…

Families who lost loved ones in the crash of a Boeing 737 MAX jet in 2019 killing all 157 on board had harsh words for the corporate giant, saying the U.S. government didn’t go far enough in the indictment of Mark Forkner on Oct. 14, 2021.  The former chief pilot of the new aircraft was indicted yesterday by the U.S. Department of Justice on six counts for his actions, including lying during the certification process…

“The indictment of Boeing’s former chief pilot for deceiving federal authorities about the 737 MAX is a corporate whitewash,” said Robert A. Clifford, founder and senior partner of Clifford Law Offices in Chicago and Lead Counsel in the consolidated litigation against Boeing in the crash of a 737 MAX in Ethiopia in 2019. “The tragic loss of 157 lives could have been prevented had Mark Forkner spoken up but he certainly didn’t act alone.” Clifford…

Clifford Law Offices Founder and Senior Partner, Robert A. Clifford, was interviewed in Politico about the advisory role he played in the U.S. government’s September 11th Victim Compensation Fund (VCF) with Ken Feinberg, who was appointed as the first Special Master of the federal government’s VCF. The number of funds dispersed to families included economic loss (such as loss of salary) and “the value of life”, which is trickier to calculate. As a personal injury…

  Tracy Brammeier, attorney at Clifford Law Offices, has been invited to speak at the American Bar Association (ABA) Aviation and Space Law Committee’s Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section (TIPS) Annual Conference. Her topic is “Emerging Litigation and Regulatory Issues for the Aviation and Aerospace Industries in a Post-COVID-19 World.” The panel from around the country will address the novel legal issues that have arisen following the pandemic and how various stakeholders have responded…

Robert A. Clifford, founder and senior partner at Clifford Law Offices, will be speaking on Tuesday, August 24, 2021, at 4:30 p.m. CST on ABC News on the latest news to come out from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that a sizable number of Boeing engineers have told the federal government that they are unable to raise safety concerns at the giant company without fear of interference. The FAA reported that it is going…