Strategy 

Executive Global: What critical factors do you think that aircraft owners should consider when choosing the best law firm to advise on complicated transactions?

David Norton: First and foremost, industry expertise. Aviation is highly regulated (both by the FAA and various taxing authorities, and those regulations don’t always play nicely together).  There are a lot of good lawyers out there, but if you ask a good lawyer who doesn’t know anything about those regulations, then I can almost guarantee that you are going to be violating those regulations. So, by far, the most critical factor is finding someone who understands this industry space.

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EG: The aviation sector has seen a significant amount of M&A activity in recent years. What kind of solutions are you able to provide to aircraft owners, as well as national and international airline firms?

DN: We have a deep bench of business aviation industry law expertise. We also have a deep bench of general corporate law expertise.  So when you combine those two backgrounds together, it allows us to routinely create complex transaction solutions that are appropriate, efficient and cost effective.
 

EG: Tell us about some of the additional advantages that being a pilot and United States Air Force veteran yourself, may bring to clients?   
 

DN: My service in the Air Force was absolutely formative. It taught – or refined in me – the concepts of service beyond self, leadership, organisation and efficiency – all things that I hope make me a much better aviation attorney for my clients.

 
EG: How would you say that your MBA from the Louisiana Tech University, helped prepare you to ascend the higher echelons of business aviation as Head of the Aviation Practice at Shackelford, McKinley & Norton?

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DN: I was astounded when I got to law school that they do not teach you anything about the actual business of practicing law. My MBA taught me how to design a business plan to create a business-aviation-law specific practice. And as an added benefit from that experience, I found over the years that I have a lot of fun talking airplane talk with the CEOs, finance talk with the CFO’s, lawyer talk with the General Counsel, and pilot talk with the Chief Pilots for my clients, which I think makes for a very productive relationship.
 

EG: With your experience having shaped the legal and regulatory framework of modern aviation, what would you say that aircraft ownership does for productivity?

DN: Business aircraft are absolute time machines. If you look at the basic bottom line, it sometimes seems that they are costly and extravagant if viewed from the micro level, but if you actually look at the bigger macro picture and figure in the time savings that they provide when utilized properly, they can be an absolute force multiplier with respect to the growth of a client’s business.

EG: What pertinent trends do you see impacting the world of aviation law within the next 5-10 years?   

DN: I think that the growth in the use of medium to larger business aircraft will continue, but I also think that by far the most exciting trend is the advent of advanced air mobility – perhaps it won’t be too long before we are scooting around the skies a la George Jetson.

EG: Shackelford consistently produces results, with nine partners including yourself, being recognised by Lawdragon as “the most coveted lawyers in the world for their ability to make deals happen.” What strategies do you implement to ensure you remain ahead of the curve?

DN: Our firm believes in a strong sense of excellence in legal service to our clients mixed together with a strong sense of entrepreneurship. We are constantly working on better defining our practices and our services to our clients in order to make them better, and we look forward to continuing to do so in the future.   EG