David Ian Katzman

David Katzman concentrates his practice in plaintiff-side aviation accident litigation, including commercial airline disaster cases, general aviation and corporate aircraft crashes, helicopter accidents, military and government contractor aviation matters, and aircraft product liability litigation. He has served as counsel in approximately 120 federal aviation cases across more than a dozen federal district courts since the late 1980s.

David holds an Airline Transport Pilot certificate issued by the Federal Aviation Administration (2006) — the highest civilian pilot certificate the FAA issues — with multiengine and single-engine airplane ratings and type ratings in the Hawker (HS-125) and Dassault Falcon 10. (Source: FAA Airman Certification registry.) He began flying at 14, soloed a Cessna 152 at 16, and held commercial, instrument, and multiengine ratings by age 20. Over more than 50 years as a pilot he has owned and operated numerous aircraft ranging from light airplanes to corporate jets and has logged more than 5,000 hours as pilot-in-command.

David graduated from the University of Detroit School of Law in 1982. He is admitted to practice in Michigan and Florida.

David’s commercial airline disaster litigation includes service as counsel for passenger families in matters arising from several of the firm’s representative aviation matters, including Northwest Airlines Flight 255 (Detroit, 1987), Pan Am Flight 103 (Lockerbie, 1988), United Airlines Flight 232 (Sioux City, 1989), TWA Flight 800 (Long Island, 1996), American Eagle Flight 4184 (Roselawn, Indiana, 1994), and National Airlines Flight 102 (Bagram, Afghanistan, 2013). He currently serves as counsel for plaintiffs in In re Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET 302 Crash, the Boeing 737 MAX multidistrict litigation in the Northern District of Illinois, in which Boeing stipulated to liability.

His aviation product liability work has included proceedings against airframe manufacturers including Boeing, McDonnell Douglas, Embraer, Piper, Cessna, Bombardier, Learjet, and Aerospatiale, as well as engine and component manufacturers including General Electric, Textron Lycoming, Honeywell, and Tokyo Aircraft Instruments. He has also handled claims against helicopter operators, military and government aviation contractors including DynCorp International, aviation insurers, the Federal Aviation Administration, and airport operators.

David’s litigation spans the firm’s successive iterations. With Schaden, Wilson & Katzman, he was counsel for plaintiffs in In re Air Crash Disaster Near Roselawn, Indiana, the multidistrict litigation arising from the crash of American Eagle Flight 4184. With Katzman, Lampert & McClune, he was counsel of record for the appellants in North American Specialty Insurance Co. v. Myers, an aviation insurance coverage dispute arising from a fatal single-engine aircraft crash; counsel for plaintiffs in Brokaw v. Boeing Co., arising from the 2013 crash of National Airlines Flight 102 in which the federal court granted the plaintiffs’ motion to remand to state court; and counsel of record for the plaintiff in Sikkelee v. Precision Airmotive Corp., aviation product liability litigation that produced a significant Third Circuit ruling on federal field preemption. With Katzman, Lampert & Stoll, he serves as counsel for a plaintiff in In re Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET 302 Crash. (Public record — In re Air Crash Disaster Near Roselawn, Ind., 909 F. Supp. 1116 (N.D. Ill. 1995); North American Specialty Ins. Co. v. Myers, 111 F.3d 1273 (6th Cir. 1997); Brokaw v. Boeing Co., 137 F. Supp. 3d 1082 (N.D. Ill. 2015); Sikkelee v. Precision Airmotive Corp., 822 F.3d 680 (3d Cir. 2016); In re Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET 302 Crash, 675 F. Supp. 3d 879 (N.D. Ill. 2023).)

He advises families after aviation accidents in matters involving aircraft operations, product liability, and complex liability analysis. For educational analysis of aviation accident investigations, see the firm’s Aviation Insights section.

You may email Mr. Katzman at dkatzman@klm-law.com or use our contact form.

Aviation Litigation Focus

David’s aviation background supports his work in complex aviation accident litigation involving aircraft operations, product liability, pilot decision-making, crashworthiness, and high-stakes wrongful death claims.

• Complex aviation personal injury and wrongful death claims
• Commercial aviation accident litigation
• General aviation crash litigation
• Aircraft product design and component failure claims
• Pilot error and flight operations cases
• Aircraft crashworthiness litigation
• Multimillion-dollar aviation verdicts and settlements
• Argument before the United States Supreme Court

Related Aviation Insights

For readers seeking more background on aviation accident litigation, the following resources explain key legal, investigative, and technical issues that frequently arise in aircraft accident cases.

Contact Katzman Lampert & Stoll

To discuss an aviation accident case, contact the firm for a confidential consultation.

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