As you can see from the map below, Slack & Davis aviation attorneys have litigated or handled cases involving crashes that occurred in many nations beyond U.S. borders, including Belize, Canada, Chile, the Dominican Republic, France, Guatemala, Haiti, Kenya, Mexico, Nigeria, South Africa and Venezuela.

Our attorneys' knowledge of the differing international laws that govern injuries, wrongful death and survivor actions in aviation cases enables them, where appropriate, to file suit in jurisdictions most advantageous to our clients. For example, under the new Montreal Convention, explained below, you have the option of filing and pursuing the matter in the location where you reside permanently.

If you have been injured on an international flight, please contact either of our offices for a free evaluation of your case. Our attorneys, working with local co-counsel, are able to litigate matters throughout the United States and many foreign countries.

The Montreal Convention of 1999 became effective November 4, 2003, after it was ratified by the requisite 30 countries. The Montreal Convention is a combination of the original Warsaw Convention of 1929, the Hague Protocol, Montreal Protocols 3 and 4, Guatemala City Protocol and Guadalajara Supplementary Convention of 1961.

What does this mean to travelers?

The Montreal Convention gives passengers much broader protection when injured on international flights. Under the Montreal Convention, a carrier is liable without proof of fault, in the event of death or bodily injury of a passenger caused by an accident on board the aircraft or in the course of any of the operations of embarking or disembarking.

• The liability limits are 100,000 special drawing rights (SDRs) (equivalent to approximately $139,000 U.S. at 2004 conversion rates).
• The injured passenger bears the burden of establishing provable damages.
• The carrier may only escape or reduce its liability based on a passenger's contributory negligence.
• With respect to damages not exceeding 100,000 SDRs, the carrier will not be able to exclude or limit its liability for any cause.
• For provable damages over 100,000 SDRs, the carrier is liable for an unlimited amount of established damages, unless it can prove that the damages were not due to the negligence of the carrier or its agents, or that the damage was solely due to the negligence of another party.

Punitive damages - Under the new convention, no punitive, exemplary or other non-compensatory damages are recoverable. This effectively provides for absolute liability on the part of the carrier making it very difficult for a carrier to prove that the damage was not due to any negligence, wrongful act or omission on its part (or its agent), or that the accident was caused solely by the negligence, wrongful action or omission of some other party.

Advance payments - The Montreal Convention requires that in the event of a covered airline accident, the carrier shall, if required by its national law, make advanced payments to those persons entitled to claim compensation. The convention provides that such advance payments do not constitute recognition of liability and may be offset against any amount subsequently paid as damages by the carrier or its underlying insurer.

Accident and bodily injury - Like the original Warsaw Convention initially enacted in 1929, the passenger must have suffered an "accident" as well as sustained a "bodily injury" to pursue liability claims. Under the established case law, passengers who have suffered accidents are not entitled to recover damages for mental distress or emotional injury. Also important is that the Montreal Convention preserves the two-year condition precedent required for the filing of any suits.

Forums for lawsuits - The Montreal Convention adopts a fifth forum for suits. In addition to the domicile of the carrier, the principal place of the business of the carrier, and the point of departure or point of destination, a claimant has the option of filing and pursuing suit where he or she has his or her principal and permanent residence. This jurisdictional forum can only be invoked if the carrier provides services pursuant to a commercial agreement at such location and conducts such business from premises leased or owned by the carrier itself or by another carrier with which it has a commercial agreement. This provision provides that any passenger who purchased his tickets abroad for flights but did not depart or arrive from his home country is no longer prohibited from suing in his home country.

Codesharing - The new Montreal Convention expressly recognizes codesharing, providing that a passenger injured in any international transportation covered by the act can bring suit against both the contracting carrier, the carrier that issued the ticket and the actual carrier that performed the transportation.

For further information, please contact either of our offices.