I’ve been a lawyer for some 35 years. About halfway through my career, I finally found the time and resources to pursue my lifelong dream of becoming an aviator. Most days you can find me flying a desk, but on good days, you’ll find my flying N685V, my twin-engine Cessna Skymaster.

Being as obsessed with flying as I am, I tend to see things through lenses polished with avgas. If there’s an analogy between something and flying, I will find it and tell you about it until I’m grounded.
So too it is with aviation and the practice of law. There are common themes. There are ways of operating in the legal and aeronautical domains that the legal and aviation communities can recognize in each other.

1. Precision and Detail Orientation

Flying and legal practice both demand meticulous attention to detail.
Planning a flight requires careful consideration of factors like weather, aircraft weight and balance, fuel planning and route optimization. Similarly, as legal professionals we meticulously analyze statutes, case law, regulations, and contractual terms to construct arguments or agreements that get our clients to their destinations.

Once in the air, safe flying is all about following procedures consistently. Climb out at the same attitude and airspeed. Have the same power settings consistently at each key point in your approach to landing. Touch down at the same target airspeed every time.
Litigation is nothing if not following and using procedures. Use a checklist when preparing for a real estate closing. Follow the CPLR in motion practice. Pay attention to individual judges’ rules.

2. Risk Assessment and Mitigation

Pilots assess risks at every stage of flight. We train to pay attention to what could kill us in each phase of flight. Taking off, we focus on runway winds, power settings, acceleration. In cruise, we monitor our flight path relative to what ATC expects. We keep an eye on engine instruments. How’s the oil pressure? Approaching to land, we’re mindful of conflicting traffic, runway conditions, aircraft configuration.

As lawyers we evaluate and mitigate risks too, whether in litigation, contract negotiation, or compliance. The mark of the professional in both domains is an attitude intent on minimizing adverse outcomes through careful planning and contingency measures.

3. Compliance and Regulations

Aviation operates within strict regulatory frameworks. Flight plans must adhere to a specific format. Everything from airplane certification to pilot training and currency requirements is heavily regulated. Aviators, air traffic controllers and mechanics are expected to know and understand hundreds of regulatory details. Similarly, as legal practitioners navigate statutes, precedents, and ethical guidelines. Non-compliance can lead to serious consequences—be it a flight deviation or a legal violation.

4. Dynamic Decision-Making

Pilots always face the prospect of adapting their flight plans mid-flight due to weather changes, ATC needs, or emergencies. Plan the flight, fly the plan, but always be prepared to deviate in the interest of safety.
Lawyers face similar dynamics—adjusting strategies during discovery, trial or negotiations. Both professions require quick thinking, assessing new information, and making informed decisions.
Decades ago, an Air Force pilot, Col John Boyd, developed a combat information-processing model that came to be known as the OODA Loop: Observe, Orient, Decide, Act. Repeat. That model applies equally well to any dynamic situation, whether it be air combat, a VFR cross-country flight, or cross-examination of a hostile witness.

5. Balancing Efficiency and Safety

Flight planning aims for efficient routes while ensuring safety. We try to balance groundspeed, distance, fuel consumption and time, with an eye to getting to our destination efficiently and safely. Legal professionals perform an analogous balancing act, constantly juggling client interests, business expediencies, deadlines, and ethical obligations. Just as (most) pilots avoid turbulence, lawyers try to navigate legal complexities without upsetting our clients’ sense of well-being.

6. Communication and Coordination

Pilots communicate constantly with mechanics, ATC, crew, and passengers. Lawyers have to do the same with clients, opposing counsel, judges and clerks. Effective communication – clear, concise and unambiguous - ensures smooth operations in the cockpit and the courtroom.

7. Preparedness and Contingency Plans

Pilots anticipate emergencies. We train for them. Ideally, we know ahead of time what we’ll do if we don’t reach 70% of our planned takeoff speed by the time we’re halfway down the runway. In the air, we always should have an alternate airfield in mind if we need to divert.
Lawyers do something similar when we draft contracts with exit clauses and dispute resolution mechanisms. Both professions recognize that unforeseen events require adaptable plans.

8. Ethical Considerations

Professional aviators adhere to safety protocols. Good pilots don’t cut corners when it comes to safety of flight. Lawyers uphold ethical standards, safeguarding client confidentiality and maintaining trust. Both communities prioritize integrity and accountability.

Conclusion

Whether the workplace I’m in is the cockpit in my airplane or my law firm office, whether airborne or in the courthouse, I try to operate with the same set of core principles: careful planning, risk assessment and mitigation, compliance, and adaptability. These are the tools that put the odds of success in my favor when I’m flying and when I’m litigating.

​I have a destination in mind when I fly and when I take on a client matter. How I get there will depend on the choices I make at each stage of the journey.
 
Roger A. Levy is a founding member of Levy & Nau P.C., where he practices law in the fields of real property, estates, wills, trusts and related litigation. When not flying a desk, Roger flies a twin-engine Cessna 337 Skymaster. He also holds the rank of Major in Civil Air Patrol, the official Auxiliary of the US Air Force, and commands CAP’s New York City Group.

As I sit at my computer, on day 29 of operating the law practice remotely, I hope that our extended family of clients, associates and their loved ones are making it OK through these uniquely trying times. I know, though, that not everyone is. People are dying. Judges I've appeared before have passed awat after contracting covid-19. Court personnel I see on a regular basis have fallen ill. But I know we will get through this.

I've been thinking about wills. I've revised my own. Do you have one? You should. No matter what degree of wealth you have, it is worth preserving on your own terms - not the government's terms. A will is one way to do that, either by itself or together with other estate planning tools such as trusts.

Wills must be witnessed in a specific way in order to be valid. Before the pandemic, we would gather a client, three witnesses and a notary together in our conference room for this purpose. That's impossible now, and may be difficult to pull off for some time even after we are allowed to re-open our office. Social distancing is here to stay for some time to come.

People still need wills, however. Fortunately, there is a solution. A temporary amendment to state law allows documents to be notarized remotely. You can sign a will or other document in one location while the notary is in another room, another city, or anywhere else on the planet. We can notarize documents - temporarily - using video conference technology. You don't need anything more than a smartphone at each end - and almost everyone has one of those.

What about the witnesses? Fortunately, the law concerning the witnessing of wills needed no temporary amendment. The answer is built right into section 3-2.1 of the Estates, Powers and Trusts law of New York State.The key is that the witnesses don't actually have to see you sign the will. They can, if everyone is in on a video conference. But even absent a video conference, you can send each witness a copy of your will - signed by you - and then get each witness on the phone and declare to them that the document they are holding is your will, signed by you, intended by you to be your last will and testament. Each witness can then sign their witness affidavit and send it back to us - your attorney - and now you have a valid will that meets the formal requirements of the law.

So stay healthy, stay six feet or more away from everyone in public - but think about your will - unless you're OK with the government telling you who gets your stuff in the end.

FEMA has now officially declared NY State a major disaster area. This opens the propsect of emergency aid to New York businesses from the US Small Business Administration. Read the SBA press release and fact sheet here. 

Apply for assistance here: www.sba.gov/disaster

The trend of every empty space in Brooklyn being built upon continues. 324 Macon Street, between Marcus Garvey and Lewis, once upon a time was one of a row of historic brownstones. The block is part of the Bedford-Stuyvesant/Expanded Stuyvesant Heights landmark district. The building, built around 1889, was torn down around 1967.

Plans have been filed to build on the empty lot. Unlike many parts of Brooklyn where there is no landmark protection, here the project must actually fit in architecturally with the surrounding properties. That's good news for this historic block and the residents in the neighborhod.