Emmet Schwartzman has been a leader in the field of aviation defense litigation since the 1982 crash of a Pan Am Boeing 727 near New Orleans. His broad aviation litigation experience includes the defense of airlines in catastrophic losses such as the 1995 American Airlines Boeing 757 crash near Cali, Colombia. He led the defense of over 100 passenger claims arising from the crash of a commercial passenger jet in Bolivia in 2008, as well as a wide variety of other injury and death cases. Examples include turbulence incidents, in-flight heart attacks, jetbridge falls, airport ramp accidents and passenger ejectment/denied boarding claims. Mr. Schwartzman regularly represents airlines, ground service handlers and other aviation industry and insurance interests on a statewide basis in Florida. That expertise extends to international claims brought in the United States that are governed by the Warsaw Convention or the Montreal Convention, including foreign accidents subject to dismissal based on the doctrine of forum non conveniens.
Mr. Schwartzman's legal skills extend beyond aviation litigation. He has experience managing mass tort and multidistrict litigation. He has defended college campus wrongful death and sexual assault cases. His experience in premises liability litigation ranges from slip and fall accidents in retail stores to negligent security claims involving murder, rape, assault, and robbery. In addition he defends construction site accident cases for general contractors and their subcontractors.
Mr. Schwartzman was selected for inclusion in Who's Who Legal, The International Who's Who of Business Lawyers, Aviation 2012 and he is AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell.