Sean Gates

	Sean Gates Senior Partner
	T:	+44(0)20 7220 5959
	M:	+44(0)7768 930 441
	F:	+44(0)20 7220 5951
	Email

Expertise:
Sean specialises in aerospace insurance, reinsurance and liability issues including disaster management and preparedness, and insurance coverage and policy issues. He has acted for airlines and their insurers as lead counsel in respect of several of the most important aviation disasters of the past 30 years.  Presently, Sean is managing all legal liability issues arising from the Boeing 777 landing accident at Heathrow Airport in January 2008.   Sean is also directing the disaster management of the aftermath of the Santa Barbara Airlines accident in Venezuela in February 2008, the Gol Airlines Boeing 737-800 loss in Brazil in September 2006, and the Helios Airways Boeing 737 crash near Athens in August 2005.     

Sean was closely involved in defending airlines in the DVT (Deep Vein Thrombosis) litigation worldwide. By a unanimous decision in the House of Lords, he led the British Airways defence team to a landmark victory which put a stop to all DVT claims in the UK. He was also involved in advising airlines and their insurers in respect of DVT litigation in Australia, the USA, and a number of other countries in Europe and South America.    

Since 1998, Sean has been the Legal Adviser to the International Union of Aviation Insurers (IUAI), an organisation comprised of the world's leading aviation insurers, whose members write 90% of the worldwide aerospace insurance. Sean represents the IUAI at meetings for the proposed replacement for the Rome Convention on Surface Damage. He was the principal observer on behalf of the IUAI at the diplomatic conference resulting in the Montreal Convention of 1999 on carrier liability to passengers. As Legal Adviser to the IUAI, Sean is in the unique position to report on developments in the insurance world for the benefit of his airline clients.

Special Distinctions:

• Euromoney Best of the Best Expert Guides for 2009, 2005 and 2003:  "Sean Gates received more individual nominations than any other aviation lawyer worldwide".
• Chambers Guide to the UK Legal Profession 2009 edition - ranked in the "star individual" category for aviation insurance and litigation, which is "given to lawyers with exceptional recommendtions in their field." (Ranked "leading individual" in every edition from 1996).
• Named by Who's Who Legal 2009 as a most highly regarded individual.  The publication comments that "The 'pre-eminent' founder Sean Gates is...considered to be 'one of the key people around the globe'.
• Named the global Aviation Lawyer of the Year 2008, 2007, 2006 and 2005 in the  Who's Who Legal Awards.  Who's Who Legal asserts that "Mr. Gates...can be said to be the world's leading lawyer for aviation expertise".
• The International Who's Who of Aviation Lawyers 2005 announced that "Sean Gates of Gates and Partners is the world's most highly nominated practitioner" for aviation legal expertise.  
• Euromoney's Guide to the World's Leading Aviation Lawyers 2004 - Sean received more nominations than any other aviation lawyer worldwide.
• Legal Experts 2004 - one of the "leading lights" in aviation insurance law.

Career:

• Established Gates and Partners, London, 2003.
• Senior Partner, Beaumont and Son, London, 1997-2003.
• Head of the Aviation Department, Beaumont and Son, London, 1991-1997; Partner, 1978-1997; Solicitor, 1974-1978.
• Solicitor, admitted in England and Wales, 1972.

Professional Affiliations:

• Legal Adviser to the International Union of Aviation Insurers (IUAI).
• IUAI representative at the Rome Convention for Surface Damage.
• IUAI Observer at the Montreal Convention.
• Member and former International Director of the Aviation Insurance Association.
• Arbitrator for the Cour International d'Arbitrage Aerien et Special.
• Member and past Chairman of the Air Law Group of the Royal Aeronautical Society.
• Member of the International Association of Defence Counsel.

Publications and Public Speaking:

• Frequent speaker on numerous air law subjects at conferences and seminars organised by various groups including IATA, the Royal Aeronautical Society, the International Union of Aviation Insurers, the American Bar Association, and the International Bar Association.
• Prepares bi-monthly legal bulletin for the International Union of Aviation Insurers.
• Frequent author of articles for legal and industry journals on air law specialisations.

Languages:
German

Interests:
Sean enjoys hiking, boating, reading and the cinema. He is an avid collector of first-edition and rare books.

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