The 11th Annual Aviation Conference hosted jointly by Paterson, MacDougall LLP (“PMLaw”) and Alexander, Holburn, Beaudin & Lang LLP (“Alexander, Holburn”) took place on February 18, 2010.

The conference opened with remarks from Bruce MacDougall of PMLaw and Patrick Saul of Alexander, Holburn.

The first panel, moderated by Patrick Saul, consisted of Darryl Pankratz of Alexander, Holburn; Michael Goodhue of Gasco, Goodhue LLP; and Thomas J. Whalen of Eckert, Seamans, Cherin & Mellot LLC updating the guests on liability developments in the past year both in Canada and south of the border.

A discussion of recent liability issues facing the aviation industry continued after a coffee break when our next panel, moderated by Bruce MacDougall, focused on such diverse issues as jurisdiction over Canadian outfitters in the United States (presented by Christopher R. Barth of Locke, Lord, Bissell & Liddell LLP) and workers’ compensation legislation exemptions (presented by Michael Dery of Alexander Holburn). Assistant General Counsel of Air Canada, Louise-Hélène Sénécal, gave us an inside look into what happens when there is a medical emergency onboard a flight. Donald I. Brenner, Q.C., former Chief Justice of the B.C. Supreme Court, shared his insights into the aviation industry in the courts from beyond the bench and highlighted the importance of mediation and arbitration in the litigation process.

The afternoon started off with a panel moderated by Darryl Pankratz, which delved into important regulatory and insurance issues such as consumer legislation (presented by Louise-Hélène Sénécal), the state of the insurance industry today (presented by Graham Marshall of Global Aerospace Underwriting Managers (Canada) Limited) and criminalization of aviation accidents (presented by PMLaw’s Tim Trembley). Renee Ritchot of Alexander, Holburn flew in directly from Vancouver to update us on the 2010 Olympic Restricted Fly Zones and their effect on the aviation industry and flight schools. PMLaw’s Carol McCall gave us a better understanding of the new technology behind body scanners.

Our final panel, moderated by Tim Trembley, took us into space with a presentation by Ahmad Erfan of Alexander, Holburn who provided useful insights into the liability issues that arise from the new phenomenon of space tourism.

Our last presentation given by Anna Gatova, Louise Vrebosch and Clay Hunter of PMLaw, provided an entertaining look into the impact of social media such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube on the law and aviation industry.

As always, PMLaw and Alexander Holburn would like to thank our speakers and guests for another successful conference. Special thanks to the hard-working PMLaw staff - Rosa Borrelli, Mary Vrbos and Veronica Rodericks who make it all possible.

We hope to see you in 2011.