Mock Mediation

Mock Mediation

This presentation is a mock mediation of the liability and damages issues in the same fact pattern as the pre-trial moot court argument.

“The Players”:
Chair: Alan D. Reitzfeld
(Holland & Knight Llp, New York)

Participants:
Michael Carbone
(JetBlue Airways Corporation, New York)
James B. Chaplin (Mediation Inc., Fort Lauderdale)
Philip Chrystal (Swiss Reinsurance Company, Zurich)
James P. Kreindler (Kreindler & Kreindler Llp, New York)
Mark Mackrell (Norton White, Sydney)
Ulla Annica Norrhäll (Munich Reinsurance Company, Munich)


Documents:

Forum Non Conveniens and Mock Trial Fact Pattern
[.pdf]



Pictures (click here)



Alan D. Reitzfeld

Alan Reitzfield Alan D. Reitzfeld is a partner in Holland & Knight LLP's New York Litigation Practice Group. His areas of practice primarily involve aviation litigation and computer/information technology law.

For approximately 30 years, he has played a leading role in defending airlines and aircraft manufacturers in multi-district litigation and appellate matters arising out of numerous major domestic and foreign commercial jet airline crashes and other incidents. The following is a partial list of some of the numerous aviation matters in which Mr. Reitzfeld was one of the primary counsel representing the airline or aircraft manufacturer: representation of Air France in litigation arising out of the accident over the mid-Atlantic on June 1, 2009; representation of American Airlines in multi-district litigation arising out of the Cali, Colombia accident on December 20, 1995, the Little Rock, Arkansas accident on June 1, 1999, and the Belle Harbor, New York, accident on November 12, 2001; representation of EgyptAir in multi-district litigation arising out of the accident off the coast of Nantucket Island, Massachusetts on October 31, 1999; representation of TWA in multi-district litigation arising out of the Flight 800 disaster on July 17, 1996; representation of Fokker Aircraft in multi-district litigation arising out of the USAir crash at LaGuardia Airport on March 23, 1992; representation of USAir in federal and state court litigation arising out of the crash at LaGuardia Airport on September 20, 1989; representation of Pan American World Airways in litigation commenced in New York arising out of the crash in Kenner, Louisiana on July 9, 1982; and representation of Eastern Air Lines in multi-district litigation arising out of the crash at John F. Kennedy International Airport on June 24, 1975.

Mr. Reitzfeld has briefed and argued appeals in various appellate courts across the country, including, for example, arguing successfully as counsel for the airline appellant in Coyle v. P.T. Garuda Indonesia, 363 F. 3d 979 (9th Cir. 2004), Rustenhaven v. American Airlines, Inc., 320 F. 3d 802 (8th Cir. 2003), and O'Rourke v. Eastern Airlines, Inc., 730 F. 2d 872 (2d Cir. 1984).

He is admitted to practice law in New York, the District of Columbia, and in the United States Supreme Court; the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C., Second, Fourth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Circuits; and the United States District Courts for the Southern, Eastern, Northern, and Western Districts of New York, and for the Eastern District of Wisconsin.

Mr. Reitzfeld has spoken on aviation and technology law issues in numerous international and domestic programs and has published articles on those subjects in the U.S. and elsewhere. A partial list of the presentations and articles is available at: http://www.hklaw.com/id77/extended1/biosAREITZ/

He is listed in the following publications: Guide to the World's Leading Aviation Lawyers (Euromoney); The International Who's Who of Aviation Lawyers (Law Business Research Ltd); The International Who's Who of Internet, E-Commerce & Data Protection Lawyers (Law Business Research Ltd); Marquis Who's Who (America, American Law, and World editions); New York Super Lawyers; and Who's Who Legal, International Who's Who of Business Lawyers (Law Business Research Ltd).

Mr. Reitzfeld is an Officer of the Aviation Law Committee of the International Bar Association. He is a past Delegate to the New York State Bar Association's House of Delegates, a past Chairman of the Computer Law Committee of the New York State Bar Association, a past Vice-Chair of the Aviation and Space Law Committee of the International Association of Defense Counsel, and a past Vice Chair of the Technology and e-Commerce Law Committee of the International Bar Association. He is also a member of the American Bar Association, the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, the International Technology Law Association, the Defense Research Institute, the Federal Bar Council, and the Nassau County Bar Association.

He is a 1973 graduate of Syracuse University and earned his law degree from Hofstra Law School in 1976, where he served as Research Editor of the Hofstra Law Review.


Michael Carbone

Michael Carbone Michael has more than 10 years experience in insurance defense and commercial litigation. He has expertise in the management of multi-party, complex insurance matters including past representation of both primary and secondary insurers.

In his almost 6 years at JetBlue, Michael has been responsible for handling both insured and uninsured matters including allegations of wrongful death, major property loss, personal injury as well as commercial disputes and employment filings, arbitrations and litigations. He is also responsible for coordinating JetBlue’s regulatory compliance as well as representing the company and its employees in varied regulatory enforcement matters which have involved ongoing contact with such agencies as the DOT, FAA, TSA and EPA.

Prior to joining JetBlue, Michael engaged in private practice at a New York City law firm where he represented such clients as the NYCHHC and several large manufacturers against malpractice and product liability claims. In that capacity, Michael acted as primary trial counsel in numerous state and federal matters as well as in mediations and arbitrations. Michael obtained a JD from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law and a BA from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, MA.


James B. Chaplin

James Chaplin After 18 years practicing as an attorney in litigation and commercial practice, James B. Chaplin founded Mediation, Inc. in 1986. One of the leading firms in the nation to exclusively offer mediation services to the courts and attorneys, Mediation, Inc. is an organization of over 35 former judges and experienced trial attorneys. The firm provides neutral third-party intervention to settle major pending litigation throughout the eastern U.S. with offices in Fort Lauderdale, Miami and West Palm Beach and mediators in other major cities.

As founder and president of Mediation, Inc., Mr. Chaplin has personally conducted more than 3,000 of the 60,000-plus mediation conferences handled by Mediation, Inc. The cases range in value up to $100 million. He has handled class action cases in the securities fraud area, among others. He has extensive experience with complex commercial cases involving Fortune 500 companies. He has done petroleum industry cases involving several aspects of the petroleum marketing chain.


Philip Chrystal

Philip Chrystal is currently a director and senior claims expert within the claims and liabilities division of Swiss Re in Zurich and is responsible for aviation and space related claims.

Joining Swiss Re in 1990, following practice as a solicitor in Sydney and legal advisor for a non-governmental organisation in Geneva, he was initially an aviation underwriter for ten years within the company including underwriting facultative, proportional and non-proportional treaty business and for several years was responsible for developing alternative risk transfer products for the aerospace industry.

He holds degrees in commerce and law from the University of New South Wales in Sydney and a master of laws in air and space law from McGill University in Montreal. He is currently a member and was previously chairman of the legal and claims study group within the International Union of Aerospace Insurers (IUAI) in London. He most recently co-authored the newest Swiss Re publication entitled "Space debris: On collision course for insurers?" released last month.


James P. Kreindler

Jim Kreindler James P. Kreindler joined Kreindler & Kreindler LLP in 1983 and became a partner in 1987. He is a magna cum laude graduate of Dartmouth College, 1977. He received his J.D. degree from Columbia University in 1980, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone scholar. He began his career as an Assistant District Attorney in the Kings County (Brooklyn) District Attorneys’ Office.

A specialist in aviation accident and terrorist litigation, Mr. Kreindler took the lead role as a member of the Plaintiffs’ Committee in the Pan Am 103 families’ suit against Libya, which produced $2.7 billion in additional compensation for the families of the Lockerbie victims. Mr. Kreindler played a major role in the litigation against Pan Am arising from the Flight 103 disaster over Lockerbie, Scotland as a member of the Plaintiffs’ Trial Team.

He has played a major role in many notable airline disaster cases, including:
- the EgyptAir 990 crash on October 31, 1990 (as a member of the Executive Committee of the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee);
- the Swissair Flight 111 disaster near Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia on September 2, 1998 (serving as a Plaintiffs’ Committee member);
- and the TWA Flight 800 disaster off Long Island, New York (appointed a member of the Plaintiffs’ Committee).

He is now co-chair of the Plaintiffs’ Committee in the 9/11 Litigation proceeding against financiers and sponsors of al-Qaeda. He currently serves as Chairman of the Plaintiffs’ Committee in the February 12, 2009 Colgan Air crash in Buffalo, New York.

Mr. Kreindler is a frequent lecturer on Aviation Accident Litigation and Terrorism Litigation throughout North and South America and Europe.
He is the only Plaintiffs’ attorney, other than Lee Kreindler, asked to lecture at International Airline Transportation Association meetings.

Mr. Kreindler is a fellow of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers. He also has been recently selected by Lawdragon for their latest 500 Leading Litigators in America’s list.

Mr. Kreindler’s proudest professional accomplishments are:
- Recipient of the 2009 Public Justice Lawyer of the Year Award.
- Securing a $2.7 billion payment from Libya for the Pan Am 103 victims — the only time any foreign state ever made such a payment to terrorist victims.
- Obtaining a record-settling wrongful death award ($9 million) for the family of Harry Bainbridge, a Pan Am 103 victim, after a 13-week trial where we obtained a willful misconduct verdict.
- Obtained the highest wrongful termination verdict for a partner fired from Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, the oldest law firm in the U.S.


Mark Mackrell

Mark Mackrell Mark Mackrell is a partner of the Australian firm, Norton White, and practices in aviation law representing airlines, aviation operators and aviation underwriters. He also has extensive experience in Trade Practices, Product Liability and Intellectual Property issues.

Mr Mackrell was awarded the International Law Office (ILO) Client Choice Award in the aviation category for Australia in 2010 and 2011.


Ulla Annica Norrhäll

Ulla Norrhall Ulla Annica Norrhäll is the Aviation Claims Lawyer at Munich Re in Germany. She has worked within the Aviation and Aerospace Insurance/Reinsurance sector since 1989, predominantly advising on legal issues and handling claims.

Ulla has an LL.M. degree from Uppsala University in Sweden.
Ulla is a regular speaker at various events and conferences. She is a member of International Aviation Womens Association (VP International Affairs), AIDA (Election Committee), International Union of Aviation Insurer (Legal and Claims Study Group) and has been a member of the Aviation Insurance Clauses Group.

Other areas of work experience; Underwriting (both aviation and liability), Compliance Officer, Company Secretary, General Counsel, Head/Manager Aviation and Cargo Claims and as a Boatman!

Ulla has also served in the Swedish Navy and spent six months in Lebanon (1986-1987) doing duty as an United Nations Peacekeeper for which she in 1988 was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.


Click on the thumbnail to view a larger version of the pictures.

Left to right: Mrs Chaplin, James Kreindler, James Chaplin, Alan Reitzfeld, Mark Mackrell, Michael Carbone, Ulla Norrhall, not on the picture: Philip Chrystal
Left to right: James Chaplin, Alan Reitzfeld, Mark Mackrell, Michael Carbone
Mrs CHaplin and James Kreindler
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