Services
Education
- University of San Francisco School of Law, J.D., cum laude
- University of California, Davis, B.A., History, summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa
Admissions
- California
- Washington
- U.S. District Court, Western District of Washington
- U.S. District Court, Central District of California
- U.S. District Court, Eastern District of California
- U.S. District Court, Northern District of California
- U.S. District Court, Southern District of California
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit
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ERIC C. STRAIN
Eric Strain is a partner whose practice focuses on aviation, product liability, and commercial matters. He acts as national product liability litigation counsel for some of the world’s largest aircraft manufacturers and distributors, and for international and domestic airlines. He represents clients in federal and state courts throughout the United States in all phases of litigation. He has specialized experience with the unique jurisdictional and other issues foreign defendants face in United States courts. He also represents clients in National Transportation Safety Board accident investigations and provides risk avoidance advice in Europe and the United States.
Mr. Strain is a graduate of the 2010 National Trial Academy held at the National Judicial College in Reno, Nevada, sponsored by the American Bar Association and the American Board of Trial Advocates.
He also has had pro hac vice admissions in numerous federal and state courts nationwide.
Publications
- “Personal jurisdiction: Is no news from the Supreme Court good news for foreign product manufacturers?” Nixon Peabody Aviation Law Alert, June 30, 2011
- “The ‘Nexus’ Requirement for Specific Jurisdiction in Product Liability Cases: What Do Federal Courts Require Before a Forum Can Exercise Specific Jurisdiction Over a Foreign Manufacturer Who Did Not Place the Product Into the Stream of Commerce in the United States,” Product Liability 360, March 2009 (co-author)
- “Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act: Assessing the Immunity of Foreign States in U.S. Litigation,” published in the American Bar Association’s The Brief, Fall 2004
- “Recent Developments in Aviation Law,” Southern Methodist University Journal of Air Law and Commerce, Winter 1999
- Editor of Nixon Peabody Aviation Law Alert
Presentations
- Panel Moderator: “The View from the Regulators: NTSB and FAA Speak Out on the Latest Aviation Litigation Trends,” ACI Third Annual Forum on Defending and Managing Aviation Litigation, June 22, 2011, Boston, Massachusetts
- “The Nexus Requirement for Specific Jurisdiction Over Foreign Aircraft Manufacturers,” Speech Presented at 44th Annual Southern Methodist University Air Law Symposium, February 26, 2010, Dallas, Texas
Representative Experience- National Union Fire Ins. Co. of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania v. American Eurocopter Corp., 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 18152 (5th Cir. 2012).
Obtained unanimous decision for Eurocopter and its U.S. affiliate, American Eurocopter, from a three-judge Fifth Circuit panel in a published opinion that fully affirmed the summary judgment dismissal by the Northern District of Texas of a multi-million dollar contribution claim against them. - Martinez v. Aero Caribbean, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 56041 (N.D. Cal., Apr. 20, 2012).
Obtained dismissal on personal jurisdiction grounds of Avions de Transport Régional (ATR) in connection with wrongful death lawsuit arising from the November 5, 2010, crash of Aero Caribbean S.A. Flight #883, an ATR-72-212 turboprop aircraft, near Guasimal in Sancti Spiritus Province, Cuba, which resulted in 68 fatalities. - Harry Newman, et al. v. European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company EADS N.V., et al., 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 63503 (D. Mass., June 16, 2011).
Represented Socata SAS; Socata North America, Inc.; European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company EADS N.V.; EADS North America, Inc.; Compagnie Daher, S.A.; Daher, Inc. in a product liability and negligence lawsuit arising from the fatal crash of a Socata TBM-700 airplane in bad weather during an attempted landing at an airport in Massachusetts. The court granted motions to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction for each client. . . . View all . . .
- Counsel for ATR-42-320 Empire Airlines (Federal Express) accident at Lubbock, Texas on January 27, 2009. Accident involved flightcrew error in icing conditions resulting in two injuries and a hull loss.
Counsel for ATR-42-320 Empire Airlines (Federal Express) accident at Lubbock, Texas on January 27, 2009. Accident involved flightcrew error in icing conditions resulting in two injuries and a hull loss. Represented the manufacturer ATR for the NTSB Public Hearing. The ATR aircraft was completely exonerated.
- Jerpe v. Aérospatiale Helicopter Corporation, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California (September / October 2008).
Obtained a complete defense jury verdict for helicopter distributor that was the sole defendant in a wrongful death case arising from an emergency medical services helicopter crash.
- Mezaki v. Eurocopter, S.A.S., U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona (July 2008).
Obtained a complete pretrial dismissal of all claims brought against a French aircraft manufacturer and its U.S. distributor who were the sole defendants in a wrongful death case arising from a tour helicopter crash in the Grand Canyon.
- Watson v. Société Nationale Industrielle Aérospatiale, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, 225 Fed. Appx. 716, 2007 U.S. App. LEXIS 7246 (9th Cir., Mar. 23, 2007).
Successfully argued personal jurisdiction and agency issues to obtain affirmance of district court’s dismissal of French aircraft manufacturer from wrongful death litigation.
. . . Hide Representative Experience . . .AffiliationsEric is a member of the California and Washington bar associations. Thought Leadership/Alerts
Press
Media Clips
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