The aviation case most firms can't carry.
An aviation case is far beyond what most firms can carry. Here's what happens when it goes to a Marine-trained trial lawyer who tries it himself, on contingency.
Recovered for Our Clients
Every case built for trial, not for a quick settlement.
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The clock starts the day of the crash.
Wreckage gets released, maintenance logs change hands, witness memory thins out. That evidence is gone if you don't act in days. The firm handling the case has to move that fast, and the NTSB's probable-cause finding will never prove civil liability on its own.
So we deploy a rapid-response team while the trail is still warm.
For international carriage, the Montreal Convention carries a two-year limitation. We calendar it at intake.
The attorney who signs it tries it.
There's no bait and switch here. Haytham Faraj, a retired Marine Corps Major and 80-trial veteran, personally handles every case. The name on the retainer is the name in the courtroom. That's the whole model, and it's not negotiable.
Former Marine Corps judge advocate · 22-year Marine veteran · Senior faculty, Gerry Spence Method at Thunderhead Ranch
What we take on.
From a major-carrier hull loss to a ground crew error on the ramp, we take the cases other firms refer out.
Commercial airlines. Major-carrier crashes and hull losses, domestic and international, against manufacturers, carriers, and their insurers.
Private planes. General aviation accidents, pilot error, and aircraft-defect claims across single-engine and light aircraft.
Charter aircraft. Part 135 charter operations, charter-broker liability, and operator and maintenance failures.
Helicopters. Rotorcraft accidents, tour and EMS operations, and maintenance defects.
Air ambulances. Medical-transport crashes and in-flight patient and crew claims.
Airport ground operations. Ramp incidents, ground-handling failures, and de-icing errors.
How the case gets built.
The NTSB investigates for safety. We investigate for liability. Five things happen, in order, before a demand is ever made.
1. Independent forensic investigation. Evidence is preserved and examined while the trail is still warm, before the NTSB finishes its work.
2. NTSB docket analysis. The Board's findings are read for what they cannot prove: civil fault. Liability has to be built separately.
3. Liability discovery. Maintenance records, training files, and airworthiness history, pulled before they get buried.
4. Damages modeling. Full economic and human damages, built for a jury rather than a quick settlement.
5. Trial advocacy. Eighty trials of courtroom experience, prepared from intake and tried by the same lawyer who signed.
The case is never handed to a junior.
The question that matters is whether the trial lawyer actually tries the case or hands it to a junior. Here, the answer is one name. The attorney who signs the case tries the case. Large firms assemble teams. We send a Marine.
Dual-track: the injury claim plus bad-faith and punitive exposure. Licensed in California, Illinois, Michigan, Iowa, and the District of Columbia, and nationwide via pro hac vice.
A record you can check.
Before you put your name on a referral, check the record. Approximately $500 million in cumulative recoveries. More than 80 jury trials. Verdicts and settlements against the City of Los Angeles and corporate defendants who expected to settle cheap.
$500M cumulative recoveries · 80+ jury trials · 22-year Marine Corps veteran
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
Your client stays your client.
We pay referral fees promptly, in strict compliance with California and Illinois State Bar rules. We try the case. You keep the trust. We send updates proactively, so you never chase for information or look uninformed in front of your own client.
Referral fees in bar compliance · Proactive communication · Your relationship stays yours
Questions from referring attorneys.
Will the Montreal Convention deadline be met? Montreal Convention claims carry a two-year limitation, reckoned from the date of arrival or the date the aircraft ought to have arrived. We calendar it at intake and file within it. Deadlines here are not left to chance.
Is the trial lawyer actually trying this, or handing it to a junior? The attorney who signs the case tries the case. Haytham Faraj personally handles every matter. There is no junior understudy and no handoff at any stage.
How are referral fees handled? Promptly, and in strict compliance with California and Illinois State Bar rules. Your relationship with your client stays intact; we try the case, you keep the trust.
Can you take a case outside California or Illinois? We are licensed in California, Illinois, Michigan, Iowa, and Washington, D.C., and we appear nationwide through pro hac vice and co-counsel association.
Who pays the case expenses? We fund the case and work on contingency. There are no legal fees or expenses owed unless we recover compensation.