Handling Your Aviation Litigation
On Friday, Sept. 29, 2006, a business jet just purchased by ExcelAire, a New York-based company with a charter fleet of small luxury aircraft, was flying from Brazil to ExcelAire’s headquarters on Long Island. Before leaving Brazilian air space, the jet collided with a passenger aircraft, resulting in the deadliest aviation accident in Brazil’s history at the time. Civil suits filed by attorneys for the estates of many of the 154 people who died on Gol Flight 1907 were consolidated in an action in the Eastern District of New York. Cozen O’Connor was retained to represent ExcelAire in that civil litigation. The cornerstone of the firm’s defense strategy was to get the case removed to Brazil for proper local adjudication. Cozen O’Connor persuaded the district court and the Second Circuit to grant ExcelAire’s motion for “forum non conveniens.” This ruling protected ExcelAire in the midst of catastrophe and established a favorable precedent for other American companies facing international litigation.