AViCON Speakers

Steve Hull IEng, FRAeS (Chairman)

Steve Hull, Aviation Director at RTI, is responsible for all aviation based activities in the UK and Europe.  He has over 41 years in aviation, as a Senior Air Safety Investigator/Air Safety Manager, Licensed Aircraft Engineer, and Flight Engineer.  Steve has investigated numerous incidents and accidents and led a team to examine the causal factors and compile comprehensive reports that included recommendations to the airlines boards.  Steve has extensive flight operational experience having over 8500 flying hours as a Flight Engineer on the B747 and Concorde.

Steve was the editor of FLYWISE, the British Airways corporate safety magazine which was considered an industry leader and a benchmark in the reporting of safety information.  He was the former elected Chairman and now the current Vice-Chairman of the UK Flight Safety Committee.

Steve regularly talks and presents to major Blue Chip companies including: Shell, British Petroleum, National Air Traffic Services, CAA Aviation Medics, Aviation Underwriters, plus new pilots and engineers.  He has lectured at the European Centre for Aerospace Training and at Cranfield University.

Steve is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society, and a member of the International Society of Air Safety Investigators and the European Society of Air Safety Investigators.

Tim Scorer (Lawyer Panel: Chairman)

Tim Scorer specializes principally in aviation claims and aviation insurance disputes, litigation, and arbitration and mediation for Ince & Co. He handles a wide range of aviation interests including aircraft operators and pilots, aircraft manufacturers, airlines, flying displays, airports and aerodromes, certification authorities, helicopters, gliders, microlights, hang gliders, parachuting, and balloons.

Tim represents and assists in claims involving the interests of aviation industry organizations and the domestic and international aviation insurance market which provides coverage for them. He advises on contractual, insurance coverage and aviation regulatory matters and represents clients in litigation, arbitration and mediation, as well as acting as Advocate at Fatal Accident Inquests and in aviation criminal prosecutions and investigations. Tim is the author of Ince & Co’s “Guide to General Aviation Claims Handling.”

Drawing on his professional and practical experience, Tim is a lecturer/speaker on a wide range of legal issues affecting the aviation industry, particularly airworthiness, airport operations, carriage by air, air operations and aviation legal liabilities generally, at courses, conferences, seminars and symposia. For more than thirty-five years, he has been closely involved in the general aviation industry both professionally and socially. Having qualified as a private pilot in 1972 and accumulated over 1200 hours in single-engined aircraft, Tim is able to bring a high degree of technical and practical knowledge to his work.

Joseph R. Reynolds

Joseph Reynolds PE MEWI MAE, is the founder and president of RTI Group, LLC with offices in Maryland and California, now specialising in aviation and utilities forensic investigation services. He is also the founder, chairman and CEO of the Londonbased UK firm Reynolds Technological Inquiries Ltd, and RTI Latin America operating from Panama City, Panama. RTI is a consultancy of leaders in the technical analysis of transportation and utilities accidents and failures resulting in major claims and litigation. Joe is also the cofounder and chairman emeritus of FTI Consulting Inc where he was based for twenty-one years.

Joe is internationally recognised as a forensic engineer expert witness, and is an authority regarding the investigation and analysis of aircraft accidents, fires, equipment failures, systems reliability research, and safety analysis, as well as forensic investigation and safety education. He is a full member of both the Expert Witness Institute and the Academy of Experts in London. Joe has written numerous related papers and has presented lectures at major universities and peer group forums. As a pioneer in the use of visuals to aid in explaining highly complex technical issues, and based on his more than twenty years of demonstrative evidence experience, Joe has established a prominent digital imaging facility within RTI, operating as Magic Motion Studios.

Panelists:

Frederick (Rick) Alimonti

Founder and Senior Partner of Alimonti Law Offices PC, Rick Alimonti brings over twenty years of aviation and insurance litigation experience to the firm. His academic contributions to the field of aviation law include the formation and launch of the American Bar Association’s highly successful first Annual Seminar on Aviation Litigation in 1995. This program continues as an annual institution in New York to this day. Mr Alimonti has twice served as chair of the aba’s national Aviation Litigation Committee. He is a regular speaker on aviation law and aviation safety and has published numerous articles on aviation litigation topics.

After several years as a partner in the aviation practice group at the law firm Haight Gardner Holland & Knight (an office of Holland & Knight LLP), Mr Alimonti launched his own firm in March 2001. At the time, Alimonti Law Offices consisted of Rick and a part-time assistant. Headquartered in White Plains, New York with a satellite office in Manhattan, Alimonti Law Offices has become an internationally regarded stalwart in the aviation and aerospace sectors. Its clients include international carriers, aerospace manufacturers, and various general aviation interest and their insurers. The firm is a frequent provider of cle accredited programs in the United States and abroad. In the spring of 2001, shortly after opening its doors, Alimonti Law Offices sponsored a program on American Mediation at the Lloyds’s Building in London. Mr Alimonti presented a paper on us 9-11 disaster legislation at the Marsh conference in Lisbon, Portugal in November 2001 and at Lloyd’s in January 2002. He presented “Recent Developments in Aviation Product Liability” at the 2006 aba Aviation Litigation conference in New York. In 2007, 2009, and 2010, Mr Alimonti prepared and delivered the ethics presentation at the aba Aviation Committee’s New York meeting. All of these presentations utilized aviation law scenarios. He also presented the ethics presentation at the tips Section aba meeting in Washington, dc, October 2008, and will do so again in 2012 in the same venue.

Mr Alimonti is a graduate of Fordham University and St John’s University School of Law. He is admitted to practice in the State of New York, the us District Courts for Southern, Eastern, and Northern District of New York, and the us Courts of Appeal for the Second, Fourth, and Eleventh Circuits. Rick is also a private pilot and is the current President of the Board of Trustees for the New Jersey Aviation Hall of Fame and Museum at Teterboro, New Jersey.

Christa M. Hinckley

Christa Hinckley is an aviation attorney with more than 25 years experience in aviation wrongful death and bodily injury claims, aviation insurance, commercial aviation transactions, risk management and emergency preparedness and response. She has structured international operational risk management insurance programs; managed complex, multi-party, multimillion-dollar mass tort litigation; was the on-site coordinator for the emergency response to four fatal aviation accidents involving American Airlines and American Eagle; and was a key member of the senior management team responding to American Airlines flights 77 and 11 on September 11, 2001.

Christa has directed the resolution of airline hull and passenger subrogation claims, including multi-million dollar hull recoveries. In addition, she has structured international operational risk management insurance programs, including aviation hull and liability, war risk, directors’ and officers’, property, kidnap and ransom, and workers’ compensation. She has also negotiated the acquisition of various airline assets and routes, aircraft and engine acquisitions and dispositions, equipment leveraged leases, repair and maintenance agreements, software licensing agreements, and international marketing and code share agreements. Christa is a recognized author and speaker on the FAA’s War Risk Insurance Program.

Nicholas Hughes

Nick Hughes is a partner in the aerospace team at the firm of Holman Fenwick Willan.  He has 30 years of experience in aviation and space industry insurance, liability, and commercial issues.

Nick is a vice-president of The Insurance Institute of London and ex-chairman of the Aviation committee.  He is also a member of the Association of Insurance and Risk Managers of which he is a Director and Secretary, The Law Society of England and Wales of which he is Treasurer for the City of London LS, The City of London Solicitors Company of which he is a member of the Court, the American Bar Association, and The Royal Aeronautical Society.  He is recommended by Chambers UK and Legal 500.

David T. Hunter (Mediator)

David Hunter’s experience consists of more than 25 years of practice in the areas of aviation, intellectual property, maritime, engineering, insurance, and complex products liability; and in construction litigation, mediation, and arbitration.  He is a patent attorney licensed by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and is admitted to practice in Washington and Alaska and before the Ninth Circuit and Federal Circuit Courts of Appeal.

Mr. Hunter received his J.D. from George Washington University, a M.S. from the University of West Florida, a M.S.A.E. from the Georgia Institute of Technology, and a B.S.A.E. from the United States Naval Academy.  He is a graduate aerospace engineer, a former Navy carrier pilot, a graduate of the U.S. Navy Test Pilot School, and a past president of the Aviation Insurance Association.  He has attended in excess of 200 hours of alternative dispute resolution training, including the STAR training in “A Systematic Approach to Mediation Strategies,” and the “Specialized Mediation” and “Mediating the Complex Case” courses from the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution, Pepperdine University Law School.  He has attended the arbitration training programs of the American Bar Association and the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute (FCIArb).


Ricardo M. Martinez-Cid

Ricardo M. Martinez-Cid is a partner at Podhurst Orseck, P.A. in Miami.  He earned his undergraduate degree in only three years at the University of Miami (B.A. cum laude 1997) and his Juris Doctorate at Yale Law School (J.D. 2000) where he was the William S. Beinecke Scholar.  While a law student, Ricardo was a director of Yale's renowned clinical program.  He served on the Board of Directors of the Latino Law Students Association, and was an editor of the Yale Journal of International Law.  Before joining the firm, Ricardo served as a law clerk to the Honorable James Lawrence King, former Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.  He joined the firm in 2002 and was named a partner in 2006.

Ricardo is Chair of the Aviation Law Section of the American Association for Justice; Co‑Chair of the Aviation and Space Law Committee of the American Bar Association; Co‑Chair of the Aviation Subcommittee of the Mass Torts Litigation Committee of the American Bar Association; Vice‑President of the Cuban American Bar Association; and formerly a board member and Secretary of the Belen Jesuit Preparatory School Alumni Association.

On many occasions, Ricardo has obtained multi-million dollar verdicts on behalf of his clients.  According to the National Law Journal, his verdict of over 195 million dollars in the Fondo Vision matter was one of the ten largest jury verdicts of 2010.  The Daily Business Review has named him one of the most effective lawyers of 2011.

Although Ricardo handles select commercial matters, much of his practice involves personal injury, wrongful death, and product liability cases with a focus on aviation litigation.  Ricardo is Board Certified in Aviation Law, thereby accrediting him as an expert within the field of practice. According to the Florida Bar, certification is its highest level of evaluation of competency and experience within an area of law, as well as professionalism and ethics in practice.

In addition to handling general aviation cases involving fixed‑wing and rotary aircraft, Ricardo regularly represents victims of commercial aviation disasters.  He has been appointed lead counsel or otherwise taken a leadership role in many of these cases, including American Airlines Flight 331, Jamaica (2009); SpanAir Flight 5022, Spain (2008); TACA Airlines, Flight 390, Honduras (2008); Santa Barbara Airlines, S.A., Flight 518, Venezuela (2008); TAM Airlines, Flight 3054, Brazil (2007); GOL Flight 1906, Brazil (2006); Comair Flight 5191, Lexington, Kentucky, (2006); Chalk's Ocean Airways Flight 101, Miami Beach, Florida (2005); Helios Airways Flight 2U522, Cyprus (2005); Tropical Air Flight 1301, Haiti (2003); Scandinavian Airlines Flight 686, Milan, Italy (2001); TAESA Airlines Flight 725, Mexico (1999); and Silk Air Flight MI 185, between Jakarta and Singapore (1997).

Ricardo has authored and published work for the American Bar Association and the American Association for Justice.  He is a frequent lecturer on aviation law and general trial tactics.

He is fluent in English, Spanish, and Portuguese.

Rocie Park

Rocie Park is a graduate of Fordham Law School with over 25 years experience in representing major aviation clients in mass disaster, litigation, and claims.  She is currently Director, Aviation Claims with Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty in New York.  

Rocie is a member of the New Jersey Bar and the Colorado Bar, and is a private pilot.

Kathryn Ward

Kathryn Ward is a Partner at DLA Piper UK LLP and a Solicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales.  She specializes in post-accident legal liability, particularly relating to handling the legal aftermath of major air accidents, from initial crisis response to negotiating passenger claims to a successful resolution and handling complex litigation.

Ms Ward defends numerous carriers in passenger, cargo, and baggage claims based on the Montreal Convention 1999, EU Regulation 261/04 and EU Regulation 1107/06.  She also regularly represents service providers such as ground handlers as well as product manufacturers and MROs in the defense of product liability claims.  Ms Ward is regularly instructed in the field of general aviation and on insurance coverage.

Ms Ward has wide experience in both domestic and multi-jurisdiction litigation and has handled claims arising out of incidents and accidents in the UK, Europe, Cuba, the Middle East, South America, Asia, and Africa.  She also represents parties in international arbitrations as well as alternative forms of dispute resolution, such as mediation, expert determination and direct negotiation.

Diane Westwood Wilson

Diane was a founding partner in June 2006 of Clyde & Co in the US, and is a resident partner in the New York office. Her international practice focuses upon dispute resolution in arbitrations and federal and state court cases across the US. Her broad commercial litigation experience includes representing the interests of multinational corporations and insurers in sophisticated commercial litigation and disputes involving airlines, aerospace/satellites, general aviation and products liability. Diane’s experience includes litigation ranging from personal injury lawsuits and major air crashes to defense of the solar array manufacturer of a series of nine telecommunication satellites and a telecommunications manufacturer regarding ground water contamination.

Diane has been involved in numerous cases in the United States Supreme Court, including argued El Al Israel Airlines v. Tseng, the seminal case holding that the multilateral treaty known as the Warsaw Convention was the sole and exclusive cause of action for all claims that arise from international air transportation. Diane tried the case in the Southern District of New York and argued the intermediate appeal in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.

Admitted in the United States Supreme Court, the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Ninth, Eleventh and D.C. Circuits and in the District Courts for the Southern and Eastern District of New York, Eastern District of Michigan, District of Colorado, District of Connecticut, and New York and Connecticut, Diane has broad multi-jurisdictional experience.

She has served as a member of the Judiciary Committee of The Association of the Bar of the City of New York and is a member of the New York State, Connecticut and American (past Chair of the Aviation Litigation Committee, Litigation Section) Bar Associations, the Defense Research Institute, Federal Bar Council, International Aviation Womens Association and Aviation Insurance Association, serving on the Board of AIA-ADR.

Diane is listed as a leading individual in both The International Who’s Who of Aviation Lawyers, and the Manhattan edition of New York Super Lawyers.

Speakers:

Prof Graham Braithwaite

Professor Graham Braithwaite is Head of the Department of Air Transport at Cranfield University. He has worked extensively in aviation safety management, human factors, and incident/accident investigation since he gained his PhD from Loughborough University. Professor Braithwaite is Director of the Safety and Accident Investigation Centre at Cranfield University and has delivered training courses around the world to clients from airlines, safety regulators, ATC providers, military, investigation agencies, and airport operators.

Jason Kelly

Jason Kelly is currently the President of Crisis Advisors, helping companies with Emergency Response planning and training.  Jason was Director of Emergency Management for Continental Airlines for 5 of his 12 years at the airline.  He had worldwide responsibility for Emergency Response planning; oversight of 270 Airport ER plans and over 450 Care Team members; and responsibility for all Emergency Response training programs, ER drills, and the Corporate Emergency Response manual.  Before becoming Director of Emergency Management, Jason was a computer programmer and Senior Manager of Technology at Continental Airlines. 

Jason was Director of Emergency Management during the Continental Airlines flight 1404 accident in Denver, Colorado, December 20, 2008.  Flight 1404 was a Boeing 737-500 with 115 passengers and crew onboard, a post-crash fire resulted in the hull loss of the airplane. Twenty-eight injured passengers and crew members were taken to four Denver area hospitals, and over 50 care team members deployed to Denver.  Jason led the Go Team flight to DEN and was on-scene for ten days working with surviving passengers and family members.

Jason was Director of Emergency Management during the Continental Connection flight 3407 accident in Buffalo, New York, February 12, 2009.  Flight 3407 was a Bombardier Q400 with 49 passengers and crew onboard which crashed into a house in Clarence Center, New York, killing all 49 onboard, as well as one person in the house, with two other family members in the house surviving.  Jason led the Go Team flight to BUF and was on-scene for 14 days working with family members of the passengers and crew, as well as the family of the ground fatality.  Over 250 care team members deployed to Buffalo.

Jason was Director of Emergency Management during the Continental Airlines flight 128 severe turbulence event.  Flight 128 was a Boeing 767-400 with 181 passengers and crew onboard which diverted to Miami, Florida after experiencing severe turbulence with over 28 passengers injured and transported to three Miami area hospitals.  Jason led the Go Team flight to MIA and was on-scene for five days working with surviving passengers.  Approximately 30 care team members deployed to Miami.

Curt L. Lewis

Curt Lewis, PhD (abd), PE, CSP is President/Owner of Curt Lewis & Associates, LLC.  The consulting firm specializes in:  Aviation/Airline Safety, Accident Investigation and Reconstruction, Industrial Safety, Forensic Investigation, Product Safety, System Safety, Automotive Crash Worthiness, Railroad Crossing Collision Investigations and Reconstruction, and Airport and Aircraft Security.

Mr. Lewis served with American Airlines/AMR Corporation (AA) for seventeen years as the Director of System Safety, and previously as the Corporate Manager of Flight Safety and Flight Operational Quality Assurance (FOQA).  Prior to American, he was a Lead System Safety Engineering Manager for LTV Aerospace Company, a Product Safety Manager for Texas Instruments Inc., a Flight Training Instructor for Boeing Commercial Airplane Group, and served as Chief Corporate Pilot and Safety Director for various industrial corporations.

Currently, Mr. Lewis is also serving as an Assistant Professor with Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Worldwide (Discipline Chair for Aviation Safety) instructing aviation, system, human factors, and industrial safety courses. In 2003 he received the Outstanding Faculty Award. 

Mr. Lewis has in excess of thirty-five years of safety experience as a professional pilot, safety engineer/director, and air safety investigator.  He holds an Airline Transport Pilot License (ATPL), Certified Flight Instructor Certificate (Airplane Single, Multiengine, and Instrument); with over 10,000 hours of flight experience.  In addition, he has earned technical Bachelor’s degrees in Aeronautical Engineering and Physics, a Masters degree in Aviation and System Safety, and a PhD in Business Administration (Specialization: Safety Management). Mr. Lewis has earned the designation of Certified Safety Professional (CSP) from the Board of Certified Safety Professionals (BCSP) and served as a Board Director. He was elected the BCSP Vice President for 2004 after serving as the Secretary-Treasurer.  Mr. Lewis is a Licensed Professional Engineer (P.E.) in the discipline of safety engineering (Mass. # 40394), a Texas Professional Safety Source (TWCC # 1941), and an ISO-9001:2000 Certified Quality Auditor (PA).

Mr. Lewis has published numerous safety articles, was a contributing editor to the AA pilot magazine “Flight Deck;” managing editor of “AA Flight Safety” and “AA Occupational Safety” magazines.  He is a frequent speaker at industry meetings and seminars, community service organizations, and corporations.  He publishes the daily aviation safety industry newsletter called:  “Flight Safety Information.”.  He serves as a member of the Educational Advisory Councils for the Center for Aerospace Safety/Security Education (CASE) of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the School of Aeronautics of Florida Institute of Technology (FIT), and the Department of Aeronautical Technology of Arizona State University.  Mr. Lewis is the former Chairman of the Air Transport Association (ATA) Flight Safety Committee.  He served as President of the Industry Advisor Council for the Texas A&M University (Commerce) Industrial Engineering Department.

Mr. Lewis is a professional member of the American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE), System Safety Society (SSS), and the International Society of Air Safety Investigators (ISASI).  He served as the President of the Dallas-Fort Worth ISASI Chapter, and was the United States Councilor and President to the U.S. ISASI society for ten (10) years.  He has been elected an ISASI Fellow.  Mr. Lewis has been listed in Who’s Who in the Safety Profession, Who’s Who in the Environment, Who’s Who in the South and Southwest, Who’s Who in Science and Technology, and Who’s Who in America.