Aviation Co-Counsel

Katzman Lampert & Stoll works with plaintiff attorneys throughout the United States as aviation co-counsel in serious injury and wrongful death matters arising from aircraft accidents and aviation-related events. The firm’s practice is devoted exclusively to aviation accident litigation, including cases involving commercial airlines, manufacturers, maintenance entities, charter and corporate operators, and government contractors.

When a potential matter arises from a scheduled-passenger operation, co-counsel may also wish to review the firm’s Commercial Airline Accident Litigation page, which addresses carrier liability, multi-party case structure, accident-investigation overlap, and related federal and international issues that often shape serious airline cases.

Attorneys often recognize quickly that an aviation case is not simply a catastrophic-injury matter involving an aircraft. The liability framework may be shaped at an early stage by technical investigation, federal regulatory structure, NTSB investigative process, aircraft certification history, maintenance and operational records, and threshold legal defenses that are uncommon in ordinary personal injury litigation.

Why Plaintiff Lawyers Bring In Aviation Co-Counsel

In many aviation matters, the most important strategic decisions are made before the liability picture is fully developed. The case may require immediate attention to wreckage preservation, engine or component examination, maintenance tracking, pilot qualification and training issues, operational control questions, airport-surface or air traffic circumstances, and the interaction between a federal accident investigation and civil litigation. These issues can significantly affect how the case is framed, what evidence is preserved, and which parties are ultimately identified as potentially responsible.

That is why many plaintiff lawyers choose to involve aviation-specific co-counsel early. The objective is to work alongside originating counsel in evaluating and handling the aviation-specific issues that may shape the outcome. In the right matter, co-counsel can help identify what requires immediate attention, what legal and technical questions are likely to matter most, and how the case should be structured before key opportunities are lost.

What Aviation Co-Counsel May Look Like in Practice

Every case is different, and the role of aviation co-counsel can be tailored to the matter. In some cases, the first step is a confidential strategic evaluation based on the known facts. In others, aviation co-counsel becomes involved more actively as the investigation and litigation develop.

In practice, that relationship may involve early consultation with originating counsel, joint evaluation of case posture, coordination about immediate next steps, and an allocation of responsibilities that reflects the needs of the matter. The objective is to strengthen the representation with focused aviation litigation experience while preserving clarity, continuity, and the originating attorney’s role in the case.

Where Aviation Cases Become More Complex Than They First Appear

Aviation cases frequently present issues that are not obvious from the initial incident description. A matter that appears at first to be a pilot-error case may involve maintenance deficiencies, design questions, dispatch or operational-control issues, training failures, certification-related arguments, airport-surface failures, or multiple layers of entity responsibility. In other cases, an event that receives limited public attention may still involve a legally and technically complex framework requiring immediate preservation and disciplined investigation.

Questions of who may be liable in an aviation accident are often more complicated than in other tort matters because responsibility may be divided among operators, owners, maintenance providers, manufacturers, component suppliers, training entities, airport-related actors, or government-connected parties. Identifying those relationships early can materially affect both litigation strategy and eventual recovery.

What Aviation Co-Counsel Adds Early in the Case

In appropriate matters, aviation co-counsel may assist with early case assessment, evidence-preservation strategy, technical issue identification, and analysis of the likely investigative and litigation posture. That may include attention to:

• preservation of wreckage, components, recorded data, and maintenance materials;
• evaluation of the relationship between the NTSB investigation and civil litigation;
• identification of manufacturer, maintenance, operational, airport-surface, or regulatory issues;
• assessment of whether the matter may implicate federal preemption in aviation product liability or related certification-based defenses;
• analysis of whether time-sensitive evidence or third-party materials require immediate attention; and
• development of a litigation structure that reflects the technical and procedural realities of the case.

These steps are often important before any final causal conclusions can responsibly be drawn. In serious aviation litigation, disciplined early framing is frequently more valuable than premature certainty.

Experience in Aviation Product Liability and Other Sophisticated Defense Settings

Some aviation cases proceed primarily against operators or maintenance entities. Others evolve into complex manufacturer litigation in which the defense centers on certification history, federal regulatory compliance, preemption arguments, statute-of-repose issues, and highly technical causation disputes. Those cases require a different level of doctrinal and appellate readiness than ordinary injury litigation.

Katzman Lampert & Stoll has litigated aviation product liability and certification-related issues in significant courts, including matters involving aviation product liability preemption after Sikkelee and recurring defenses such as the General Aviation Revitalization Act defense. In the appropriate case, aviation co-counsel adds value not only by understanding the technical record, but by recognizing when the governing law itself may become a central battleground.

Technical and Investigative Perspective

Two of the firm’s partners are pilots. The firm maintains in-house investigative capability and does not rely solely on outside consultants to understand aircraft systems, operational environments, airport approaches, and the practical realities of accident analysis. In appropriate matters, the firm deploys its own aircraft to reach crash locations, evaluate operational context, and support early case development.

That perspective matters because aviation cases are often shaped by highly technical details that do not fit neatly into ordinary PI intake categories. The ability to understand how the investigation is likely to develop, and how technical findings may later interact with liability theories, can materially improve early decision-making. The firm’s broader approach to complex aviation litigation methodology reflects that discipline.

How KLS Works With Originating Counsel

Katzman Lampert & Stoll works collaboratively with referring and originating counsel and understands that the client relationship must be handled with care. Co-counsel arrangements are structured with clarity, professionalism, and respect for the role of the attorney who first received the client’s trust.

Any co-counsel or referral relationship is handled with clear communication, defined responsibilities, and careful attention to applicable ethical rules and jurisdictional requirements. Lawyers do not need to have a complete liability theory before calling. In many matters, the first conversation is simply a practical discussion of what is known, what may need immediate attention, and whether the case presents aviation-specific issues that warrant early specialist involvement.

When It Makes Sense to Call Aviation Co-Counsel

Attorneys may benefit from involving aviation co-counsel early where a matter involves a commercial airline, turbine aircraft, helicopter, charter operation, product-liability issue, maintenance issue, airport-surface event, NTSB investigation, multiple potentially responsible entities, or uncertainty regarding how federal aviation law may affect the structure of the case. In many of those matters, delay can complicate both preservation and strategic positioning.

Attorneys do not need to wait until every fact is known. In many cases, the most useful first step is a confidential conversation about the known facts, the likely investigation path, and the issues that may require immediate attention. For additional background on preservation concerns, see Evidence Preservation After an Aviation Crash.

Selected Related Resources

• NTSB Investigations and Civil Litigation
• NTSB Investigation Process
• Complex Aviation Litigation Methodology
• Federal Preemption in Aviation Product Liability
• Defeating the GARA Defense in Aviation Product Liability Cases
• Sikkelee and Third Circuit Aviation Product Liability Preemption
• Who Is Liable in an Aviation Accident?
• Evidence Preservation After an Aviation Crash

Attorneys seeking to discuss a potential referral or co-counsel matter may contact the firm directly for a confidential evaluation.