Leveraging the AIA’s CLE programming

Michael McGrory, Partner, Amundsen Davis, LLC AIA Director, Attorney Division

Illinois has recently seen two significant legal developments that should be of keen interest to the aviation bar. In In re Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET 302 Crash (2023 WL 3728625), the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois held that Illinois courts would permit the families of passengers to recover for pre-impact fright and terror under Illinois’ Survival Act. This is a drastic departure from longstanding precedent that prohibited damages for emotional distress preceding a physical injury. E.g., In re Air Crash Disaster Near Chicago, Ill. On May 25, 1979, 507 F.Supp. 21 (N.D. Ill. 1980).

In addition, the Illinois legislature recently initiated an amendment to the Illinois Wrongful Death Act that, if signed by Governor Pritzker, would allow for the recovery of punitive damages in most wrongful death cases. Currently, and for well over 100 years, Illinois law did not permit punitive damages in such instances. This bill is almost certain to be enacted, so Illinois defense counsel and their clients can expect to see requests for punitive damages in future lawsuits involving fatalities.

Perhaps you saw a story about the Ethiopian Airlines ruling, which had some national exposure. Articles about the Illinois Wrongful Death Act amendment seem to have been more confined to local legal publications. More than ever before, this information is readily accessible from the comfort of one’s own desk. But there is so much information out there, and each of us is inundated with so many “updates” and “alerts,” it can be difficult to separate the wheat from the chaff and identify what developments are relevant to our practice. This is where AIA’s programming can be so beneficial.

AIA’s annual CLE program provides an opportunity to learn from experts about topics specifically pertinent to aviation law. There was another strong turnout in Tucson this year and the quality of the sessions reflected the hours of work put in by the generous presenters. Monika Korkowski from Great American Insurance, Mike Peeples from Peeples Consultants, and my partner Brandt Madsen from Amundsen Davis shared a wealth of experience about handling agricultural claims and litigation.

Michael Dery of Alexander Holburn updated attendees on Canadian aviation liability and the Canadian passenger rights movement. Chris Watkins from Starr, Orla Brady from Clyde & Co., and Shannon Dugan from Anderson Riddle provided an overview of evidence spoliation and tips on how to avoid it. Brett Godfrey of Godfrey Law discussed the remarkable impact of technology on the modern law practice.

While all attendees should have made a lot of progress towards CLE requirements for this year, hopefully all also learned something new and specifically relevant to their niche of the legal world.

We are already planning CLE programming for the 2024 Annual Conference in New Orleans. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any ideas for topics or speakers.

In addition, fellow Attorney Division member Mark Banovetz from Tressler shared his advice on how to resolve multiple claims with limited insurance proceeds to the joint Attorney/Claims Division meeting. Sunday’s General Session also provided several opportunities to earn CLE and many of our members took full advantage.