Insights / News
Insights / News
Our annual travel law conference took place on Thursday 19th October at Outer Temple Chambers, London. Topics included Spanish Penalty Interest, Co-counselling on Clinical Negligence claims aboard, a panel session on running clinical negligence abroad and navigating turbulent topics in aviation claims. We were delighted to have been joined by a esteemed line-up of external speakers, from the UK and across the globe.
The recording of the final panel session of the day, on navigating turbulent topics in aviation claims as discussed by chair Gerard McDermott KC and panellists Sarah Crowther KC (Outer Temple Chambers), Peter Neenan (Stewarts Law) and John V. Kalantzis (Clifford Law, Chicago), is now available.
Chair of the event, Gerard McDermott KC, specialises in personal injury and negligence, the majority being catastrophic injury such as spinal cord injury and brain injury. He is ranked as a Star Individual in Chambers & Partners 2022 and described as a “pre-eminent silk who is one of the finest personal injury barristers on the circuit.” Legal 500 2022 describe him as “the go-to silk in serious travel claims.”
He has an inate understanding of the legal systems of a number of different countries and a number of his cases have a cross-border element to them, with particular emphasis on US and Europe. Gerard was involved in one of the first cases relating to the implementation of Rome II (EC) No 864/2007 (Bacon v Nacional Suiza [2010] EWHC 2017 (QB).
Gerard sits as a Deputy High Court Judge in the King’s Bench Division and is also a former President of the American Counsel Association and former Leader of the European Circuit of the Bar. In addition, and in recognition of his long-time involvement with the American Bar Association, Gerard was the first recipient of a Presidential Citation in 2015 and currently co-chairs their International Litigation Committee.
Sarah Crowther KC has experience in all claims for injury, illness or accident with an international element, and disputes over jurisdiction and applicable law. She has appeared in recent high-profile cases in the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court, including Brownlie, and is experienced in working with expert evidence of foreign law and handling claims to which foreign law applies.
Sarah has also acted in many of the important cases regarding direct actions for and against motor and public liability insurers across Europe and in respect of the interpretation of the EU law relating to claims on behalf of victims of uninsured or unidentified drivers where the accident is in the EU. She also litigates tort claims in non-EU accidents and advises on jurisdiction and applicable law.
She has experience of litigation in Montreal and Athens Convention claims, including clinical negligence, disability discrimination and air passenger rights issues, including flight delay compensation under Regulation 261. Sarah has handled group and illness claims, including norovirus and food poisoning. Sarah is recommended by Chambers & Partners and Legal 500 for her expertise in travel law.
John V. Kalantzis is an Associate at Clifford Law Offices in Chicago, one of the premier personal injury law firms in Chicago. Clifford Law Offices is listed by National Law Journal as one of the 50 Elite Law Firms in the country and, in 2020, they also named the firm “Aviation Law Firm of the Year”. The firm has repeatedly been listed in U.S. News & World Report & Best Lawyers® rankings as one of the top law firms in the country.
John’s practice focuses on aviation law and he has a wealth of trial experience in motor vehicle collisions, premises liability, and wrongful death. He is also skilled in alternative dispute resolution. Currently, John is part of the team representing the families of the victims of the crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 in their lawsuits for wrongful death against Boeing. John is recognized in The Best Lawyers® in America for Aviation Law as well as for Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiffs.
John is a member of the American Bar Association and the American Association for Justice (AAJ). He is a member of the Assembly for the Illinois State Bar Association Association (ISBA) where he also serves on the Tort Law Section Council and on the Bar Elections Supervision Committee. John is also on the Judicial Evaluation Committee of the Chicago Bar Association (CBA).
Peter is a dual qualified English solicitor and Illinois attorney described by leading legal directories as “a dream attorney for any client to have” and “an aviation law supremo” with “unrivalled technical expertise in aviation accidents”. Peter is known for working on the department’s most high profile cases and specialises in technically complex multi-jurisdictional aviation matters. He holds two master degrees in Theoretical Physics and Advanced Air & Space Law and a nanodegree in Artificial Intelligence Programming.
Peter regularly acts for victims of aviation accidents world-wide (light aircraft, helicopter and airline accidents), and is heavily involved in the aviation department’s independent technical investigations. Additionally, he advises on commercial aviation matters with an interest in liability issues arising out of the commercial use of drone technology. He sits on the inter-departmental commercial aviation disputes team.
Recent highlights include the representing the family of Leicester City FC Chairman, Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha and the family of Lord Ballyedmond following respective private helicopter accidents, the Boeing 737 Max cases (both Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET302 and Lion Air Flight JT610), and Malaysia Airlines Flights MH17 and MH370.
Peter lectures at the Institute for Advanced Air & Space Law where he has provided an annual lecture for the last 12 years. He additionally sits on the Royal Aeronautical Society Air Law Committee and regularly publish articles on matters of aviation law.
News 9 Nov, 2023
Call: 1978 Silk: 1999
Call: 1999 Silk: 2018
