Thomas J. Whalen is a Member of the Business Division.  Mr. Whalen's practice has involved: corporate and regulatory advice to foreign air carriers operating to the US on airline issues such as licensing, hazmat, and security; advice on transactions involving the sale, financing and leasing of aircraft and aircraft engines; the litigation of aviation cases; advice on airline accident investigation and family assistance; and trade advice, particularly advice on the effect of US trade sanctions on the sale and lease of aircraft and aircraft engines.

Mr. Whalen has had extensive litigation experience in the courts of New York and the District of Columbia at both the trial and appellate level.  He argued the cases Stencel Aero Engineering Corp v United States, 431 US 666 (1977) and Helicopteros Nacionales de Colombia, SA (Helicol) v Hall, 466 US 408 (1984) before the US Supreme Court.  The Helicol case is a landmark precedent on the issue of the jurisdiction of US courts over non-US companies for claims based upon aircraft accidents outside the US.

Mr. Whalen has spoken at professional meetings on various aviation-related legal subjects and produced a compact disc presentation on the subject of family assistance in major aircraft accidents.  He has published numerous articles on such aviation topics as the Montreal Convention and the regulatory requirements of US government agencies over non-US carriers operating to the US.

Mr. Whalen was one of two US representatives appointed by the Department of State of the US to a study group at UNIDROIT, Rome to draft an international convention relating to the recognition and enforcement of security interests in mobile equipment, including aircraft and engines.  This convention has now come into force as the Cape Town Convention.  Mr. Whalen served from 1991 to 1998.

Mr. Whalen holds an AV^® rating from Martindale-Hubbell and he has been selected to appear in the Expert Guides to the World's Leading Lawyers - Best of the Best 2007 for aviation law.

Education:
J.D., Georgetown University Law Center, 1963
A.B., St. Peter's College, 1960

Admissions:
District of Columbia; New Jersey; New York; U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit; U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit; U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York; U.S. Supreme Court

Membership Affiliations:
Federal Bar Association; Air and Space Law Forum of the American Bar Association; Business Law Section of the American Bar Association