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The Aviation Law Section focuses on major air crash litigation. The Section studies federal legislation and treaties such as DOHSA, GARA, Warsaw, and The Hague to ensure that those injured in air tragedies have avenues of recourse and recovery. The Section offers information on all aspects of accident investigation and reconstruction as well as how to handle suits involving the federal government.

Letter from the Chair

I would like to start my term as Chair of the AAJ Aviation Section with a big thank you to Alisa Brodkowitz for her past year of service. Alisa did a wonderful job as Chair and thank you for your hard work over this past year. For those of you who were lucky enough to be with us in Vancouver, we enjoyed a terrific city, wonderful weather, and a good CLE. I would also like to welcome our Newsletter Editor Alex Rundlet, who will work with me this year on the newsletters. I am sure there are some of you that have cases or subjects that could be the topic of a newspaper article. Alex would surely appreciate any contributions to the Newsletter.

On the legislative front, there appears to be some good progress being made on a bill to amend the Death on the High Seas Act (DOHSA) to allow for the recovery of non pecuniary damages in non commercial aviation accidents. The amendment that has passed the House would basically extend the commercial air operations exemption to all aviation accidents.

At the business meeting in Vancouver we had a discussion with the AAJ legislative staff about what we can realistically expect given the political climate and the lobbying resources as it pertains to the mandatory insurance or the disclosure rules we have been discussing for several years. AAJ staff is working on having a house member sponsor an analysis of the cost of the insurance. Depending on how the cost report from the General Accounting Office comes back, we will move forward with either the insurance or requirement of mandatory disclosure. This has been a long term, slow moving effort. I am hopeful with healthcare reform behind us, we can make some progress moving forward.

With kind regards,

Ladd Sanger

AAJ Aviation Section Chair
SLACK & DAVIS, L.L.P.
Dallas Office

Certain Section benefits in membership types other than Regular, Sustaining, Life, or President’s Club may be restricted.

---AAJ Exchange Litigation Packet---

Medicare and Medicaid Reimbursement Claims Survival Guide

The AAJ Exchange’s Medicare and Medicaid Reimbursement Claims Survival Guide addresses issues such as information to obtain at case intake, determining what your client owes, notice to the government, mandatory reporting, statute of limitations, settlement, allocation, waiver and pre-settlement compromise, where to put the funds, consequences for nonpayment, and ethical considerations to help plaintiff attorneys protect their clients and themselves.  To order or view the table of contents for this or the more than 130 other Litigation Packets, visit the AAJ Exchange or call 1-800-344-3023.