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Mark Franklin

Mark Franklin

Partner
About

Mark Franklin is a Partner in the firm’s London-based Aviation Group. He is well versed in managing aviation tasks ranging in breadth from handling the legal aftermath of major air disasters (fixed and rotary wing) for airlines, product manufacturers and aviation service providers, to structuring deals which navigate barriers to airline business imposed by international air law (such as nationality of ownership/control of airlines, and limitations of on the commercial transfer of airport slots).

In between, Mark has been regularly involved in issues for clients concerning, for example, aircraft accident investigation; ACMIs; aircraft disputes; aircraft type worldwide groundings; airline franchising; airport charges; air traffic rights; aviation insurance wordings; aviation regulatory prosecutions; AVN67 releases; carriage of cargo; code-sharing; commercial cooperation agreements; conditions of carriage; control of airspace; corporate aviation; crisis management; hull subrogation claims; judicial investigations; maintenance and repair; public inquiries; risk assessments; UK exit from the EU; and unlawful interference in civil aviation.

Professional QualificationsSolicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales

EXPERIENCE

  • Representing commercial airlines and their insurers in the handling of legal liabilities/defending claims arising out of significant air accidents in Europe, Asia and South America;
  • Representing a sovereign State in judicial review proceedings concerning commercial air traffic rights between a foreign occupied part of its territory and the UK;
  • Handling legal liabilities/defending claims, and managing judicial inquiries, for a large helicopter manufacturer and its insurers arising out of significant air accidents in multiple countries;
  • Advising a major airline/flag carrier on regulatory issues in relation to the nationality rules and airline ownership/control through actual and planned investments in six European airlines;
  • Advising major UK, Middle Eastern, and US airlines in structuring and documenting transactions concerning the sale of airport landing/take-off slots at airports in the UK and EU; and
  • Representing an aircraft manufacturer and its insurers in defending claims of operators for loss of use arising out of a worldwide grounding of one of its aircraft types.
Education

    Awards

    • Mark is ranked in the Legal 500 Hall of Fame for Aviation and is ranked by Chambers and Partners in Band 1 for Aviation.
    • Mark Franklin, has "exceptional experience and knowledge of the regulatory landscape and will find a route through a regulatory maze where others will get lost" - Legal 500, 2020
    • Mark Franklin has "a wealth of experience and is very good technically," according to his clients, who highlight his expertise in aviation matters including liability disputes. He frequently acts for insurers on high-profile aircraft accidents across multiple jurisdictions - Chambers, 2020

    Publications

    Mark's textbook publications include the Carriage by Air section of Butterworths Encyclopaedia of Forms & Precedents published in 2018.

    Memberships And Affiliations

    • Member of the editorial board of Air & Space Law Journal published by Kluwer
    • Member of the Royal Aeronautical Society

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