Does your business ship goods in interstate commerce? Do you know what to do and how to protect your rights when goods you ship arrive in damaged condition? These important…
Cleveland’s Top Aeronautics–Aviation Firm
Gertsburg Licata’s Aeronautics-Aviation practice offers a range of services for aviation professionals and businesses. Our Aeronautics-Aviation practice is led by senior attorney Jason Lorenzon, a Board-Certified Specialist in Aviation law and an FAA-licensed airline transport pilot with multi-engine and instrument ratings. With his combination of aviation-law knowledge, legal acumen, and practical experience, Attorney Lorenzon is uniquely able to focus on details that non-aeronautics specialists are likely to overlook.
Gertsburg Licata’s aeronautics and aviation attorneys represent commercial, corporate, and general aviation companies and pilots, as well as other FAA certificate holders. Our team regularly prepares legal advisory opinions about aviation issues, including airport-user fees, special-issuance medical applications, and drone-flying regulations.
Federal Aviation Administration Matters
Gertsburg Licata attorneys closely follow new developments in aviation law and regulations, allowing us to provide informed, state-of-the-art representation to pilots, mechanics, air-traffic controllers, dispatchers, and other professionals who find themselves under investigation by the FAA.
These include aviation professionals under FAA emergency orders of suspension or revocation for conduct such as drunk or impaired driving. Because emergency orders can end a career, aviation professionals facing suspension or revocation should promptly contact Gertsburg Licata for counsel.
PRIA Issues
Under the Pilot Records Improvement Act of 1996 (PRIA), air carriers can request information about pilots’ training, experience, and safety backgrounds prior to hiring them. The information reported is not always accurate—or even true. Pilot candidates who discover that a former employer has reported false, derogatory information to the FAA need to act quickly to set the record straight. An expert in aviation law with practical aircraft and FAA experience like Attorney Lorenzon can help prepare and file a statement in response to misleading or false allegations.
Attorney Jason Lorenzon’s aviation credentials include
- Chair of the Aviation Law Committee of the Ohio State Bar Association and member of the Aviation Law Committee of the Florida Bar
- FAA-licensed Certified Flight Instructor, Instruments and Multi-Engine
- One of the first pilots to receive the Remote Pilot In Command sUAV FAA Certificate in Ohio
- Master CFI Designation from the National Association of Flight Instructors
- Safety Lead for the FAA Safety Team program
- Instructor of Aviation Law, Aviation Security and Policy
- Multi-Engine Instructor for PROP majors at the Kent State Airport
Other Agencies’ Regulation of Aviation and Aeronautics
In addition to the FAA, aviation is regulated by state, federal, and international agencies, whose jurisdictions often overlap. Attorney Lorenzon helps airlines, airports, financiers, insurers, and maintenance and repair companies navigate the regulatory network. He serves as counsel for pilots, fixed-base operators (FBOs), and flight school owners and operators, and advises airlines, manufacturers and insurers facing litigation arising from aviation accidents and property damage claims.
Attorney Lorenzon’s practice includes business and legal issues relating to international air space, outer space and extraterrestrial matters.
Aviation Accidents and Personal Injury
Gertsburg Licata’s experience with aviation-related injuries ranges from airline disasters to charter-flight accidents, injuries sustained as a result of poorly stored baggage or hard landings, and common injuries occurring outside the plane or inside the airport due to uneven or slippery flooring, poorly maintained jet bridges, or poor lighting.
Drone Laws and Regulations
Several federal agencies regulate drones, and many of their rules also pertain to model aircraft. Gertsburg Licata’s Aeronautics and Aviation division can provide up-to-date advice on each of these.
- National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). Drone owners are required to report all drone crashes or accidents to the NTSB. Depending on the incident’s location, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) might also get involved.
- Department of Transportation (DOT). The DOT supervises drones carrying hazardous materials, as well as materials whose delivery is time-sensitive, such as medical equipment.
- Transportation Safety Administration (TSA). The TSA administers flight training to foreign nationals, including drone-flight training.
- Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The FCC regulates radio frequencies and the degree of power at which drones may operate. FCC prosecutions of drone owners and operators who violate these regulations have resulted in hefty fines.
- Department of Commerce (DOC). The DOC has jurisdiction over items transported by drones that are subject to federal regulation, especially weapons and items that can be used for military purposes.
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). NOAA regulates mechanical flights over national sanctuaries, and may get involved if a drone is spotted flying over one.
- The National Park Service’s policies toward operating drones in national parks varies among jurisdictions. Be sure to contact park administrators before setting out to fly a drone in a national park.
- The Department of Interior will get involved if a drone interferes with firefighting operations or other key government activities.
Satellite Law
Satellite law comprises a number of subsections: international satellite communications law, international satellite remote sensing law, and international satellite navigation law. Attorney Lorenzon handles regulations and disputes relating to the use of satellites for telecommunications purposes, including broadcasting and meteorology; licensing private activities; regulating satellite constellations; financing space activities; environmental protection rules; international trade; and cyber operations.
Commercial Activities in Space
Commercial space activities are a growing part of the aeronautics sector. Space mining, space tourism, and private exploration are complex and still-evolving industries that attract venture-capital funding. Gertsburg Licata’s aviation practice handles these issues in coordination with its business transactions practice.
Jason Lorenzen and the rest of the Gertsburg Licata team help entrepreneurs and business leaders with a broad range of business creation, transaction, management, and compliance issues. If you need help with an aviation or aeronautics-related problem, call us at 216-573-6000 or contact us using the form below.
