Why an aviation lawyer

Why you need an aviation lawyer

Due Diligence - Purchasing an interest in a jet is a multimillion dollar transaction. Good business judgement would require that you get specialized legal assistance before committing your funds or company funds.

Understanding what you are getting and what you are not getting. In a typical transaction you may be asked to sign 11 different documents. The typical set of documents contains 34 pages and about 300 paragraphs. An aviation lawyer who fully understands FAR part 91, and FAR part 135, can help prevent misunderstandings or later unmet expectations. There are no "standard" one size fits all contracts. Each contract must be tailor-made to your special needs.

Escape clauses. Your business may change in the future. Your aviation needs may change in the future. You may need "escape" clauses should the contracts turn out to no longer fit your needs. An experienced aviation lawyer will know which provisions can be negotiated to protect your future needs and which provisions cannot be negotiated resulting in obligations which you must understand.

Aviation law is a very narrow subspecialty of law. There are very few private practice lawyers (not employed by airlines or manufacturers, etc.) available to be able to assist you without a conflict of interest. For Example: Only 58 lawyers belong to the Aviation and Aerospace Law Committee of the American Bar Association's International Law Section's 5,600 members. Only 525 lawyers belong to the Aviation and Spacelaw Committee of the 16,000 members of the American Bar Association's Tort and Insurance Practice Section. Many of these lawyers might be in a conflict of interest situation if they were to represent a buyer or lessee. Many are employed by governments or airlines or manufacturers and would not be available to help you.

The law firm of Bailey & Partners has represented many buyers and lessees of fractional interests and can assist your corporate or general counsel or work directly with you.