Lawyer Monthly Magazine - April 2019 Edition

Firm Profile As a first generation law firm with more than three decades of experience in aviation accident litigation, Nolan Law Group understands the uniqueness of the issues associated with each case, including jurisdiction, venue, conflicts of law, and proof of damages. Its attorneys are alsowell-versed in the language, processes and inner workings of federal and international agencies responsible for investigating air disasters and regulating air carriers. Attorneys at Nolan Law Group have served in many leadership capacities for plaintiff groups in aviation matters including roles as Lead Counsel, Plaintiffs’ Trial Team, Liaison Counsel, Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee, and Plaintiffs’ Executive Committee. This leadership has led to many successful verdicts, settlements, and reported cases on wide-ranging issues in aviation accident litigation. Nolan Law Group has also been a leader assisting victim groups, including supporting its clients in lobbying for the Aviation Disaster Family Assistance Act of 1996 and support in the founding of the National Air Disaster Alliance. With its experience and results, Nolan Law Group has been an excellent resource for other attorneys and is often sought out by media following high-profile aviation accidents. Nolan Law Group has successfully represented clients in most major air disasters in recent history. In June 2017 Nolan Law Group secured a $115.75 million jury verdict which resulted in a post-trial settlement arising from a Boeing 747 cargo crash in Afghanistan. It also recently resolved its cases arising from the accidents involving Asiana Airlines Flight 214, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, and AirAsia Flight 8501. In addition to major air carrier litigation, Nolan Law Group’s litigation practice includes other commercial accident cases and accident cases arising from corporate, general aviation, cargo, military, and helicopter operations. been interpreted and defined by US courts. For instance, an “accident” or “occurrence” under the Montreal Convention is defined as any injury in a chain of causes, with proof that some link in the chain was an unusual or unexpected event external to the passenger. A ‘bodily injury’ has been determined to be established by the ‘but for test’ (the injury would not have occurred but for the accident) or the ‘substantial factor’ test (the accident in question was a substantial factor in bringing about the bodily injury). It is important to note that there are nuances to emotional injuries 1 El-Zoobi v. United Airlines, Inc., 2016 IL App (1st) 150813 under the Montreal Convention – namely that a physical, bodily injury must accompany the emotional injury for recovery. Finally, ‘embarking or disembarking’ is interpreted with a four-factor determination. The factors include (1) the activity of the passengers at the time of the accident; (2) the restrictions, if any, on their movements; (3) the imminence of actual boarding; and (4) the physical proximity of passengers to the gate. Each of these factors are weighed in determining whether a passenger was embarking or disembarking at the time of the injury. LM www. lawyer-monthly .com 79 Expert Insight APR 2019