Course Description

601:590. Aviation Law (2) S

R.W. CLARK


This course is taught on an intensive schedule. Limited enrollment = 20.


Aviation Law is a skills development course based loosely in part upon the Ethiopian Airlines Flight 304 disaster on March 10, 2019. Skills acquired in this course will have application to a future practice in aviation, and broadly to any practice that touches upon complex litigation.

Flight 304 crashed on departure from Addis Ababa International Airport en route to Nairobi, Kenya, with a number of Americans aboard and numerous representatives of the United Nations who were based in New York. The aircraft was a four month old Boeing 737 Max 8. The crash was eerily similar to the crash five months earlier of another brand-new Boeing 737 Max 8 on departure from Jakarta, Indonesia. Each accident resulted in the deaths of all persons on board---more than three hundred in total.

Relying upon International and Domestic Law, as well as applying Federal procedural rules, we will develop, explore, and argue to the court: liability, damage and procedural issues that often arise in complex aviation litigation. We will research and write motions and oppositions, addressing disputed matters that typically arise during a multi-party lawsuit up to and including trial.  We will try our hand at opening statements and closing arguments.  We will discuss and explore practical issues that arise in complex litigation. We will learn how courts approach the interpretation and enforcement of international treaties, in particular the Montreal Treaty. We will study personal and subject matter jurisdiction as it applies to international and domestic aviation litigation, as well as federal preemption, choice of law, forum non conveniens and various other concepts.   

By the end of the course you will have gained skill in issue spotting, preparation of pleadings and motions and briefing, oral argument, all with the goal of improving your ability to efficiently represent clients in complex litigation.  We meet eight times: Saturday and Sunday, September 16 and 17; Saturday and Sunday, September 30 and October 1; Saturday and Sunday, October 14 and 15; and Saturday and Sunday, November 11 and 12. Each class session begins at 10 AM and runs approximately three hours. We will alternate between the classroom and the moot court, subject to availability.

There will be no final examination. Grades will be based upon your written submissions (which necessarily includes issue spotting), your oral argument with an adjustment for class participation.

The class is limited to the first 20 registrants.