Kathy is an experienced trial and appellate attorney, and her practice focuses on insurance and reinsurance law, commercial law and finance, international arbitration and commercial litigation, including all types of aviation litigation and appellate law.

Kathy has extensive experience representing numerous clients in litigation before federal and state trial and appellate courts. Kathy also has considerable experience in mediation and arbitration of commercial disputes in both state and federal forums. She is a trained mediator in commercial matters and also a trained facilitator working with not for-profit organizations.

Kathy is listed in both Euromoney’s Guide to the World’s Leading Aviation Lawyers and its Guide to the World’s Leading Insurance and Reinsurance Lawyers, as well as in The Legal 500 editions on litigation for her work in Insurance and Reinsurance. Since 2006, Kathy has been selected annually as a New York Super Lawyer in the fields of Insurance Law and Aviation & Aerospace.

She is listed as a Leading Aviation Attorney in the 2021 Aviation Expert Guide and as a Leading Insurance and Reinsurance Attorney in the 2021 Insurance and Reinsurance Expert Guide.  Kathy was also selected as a Leading Aviation, as well as Insurance and Reinsurance Attorney, in the 2023 Women in Business Law Expert Guide after nomination by some of the world’s leading in-house counsel and her peers.

Who’s Who Legal has noted Kathy for her “excellent mediation and dispute resolution techniques” and as “consistently brilliant” for her work specializing in aviation and aerospace disputes and in Who’s Who Legal: Elite 100, she was noted as “well reputed” in dispute resolution and for her “in depth knowledge in insurance matters.” Kathy also has been selected as being among the top 20% of all Lawyers in WWL Thought Leaders USA 2024 for her distinguished expertise in the aviation, aerospace, insurance, and reinsurance industries.

Kathy has published and lectured widely on legal issues affecting the airline, aerospace, insurance, and reinsurance industries. She has participated as a speaker at numerous conferences sponsored by the American Bar Association, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the Aviation Insurance Association and various bar and other organizations around the world.  She also has acted as an instructor for the IATA Training Program offering certification in aviation insurance.

Kathy is one of the authors of the leading international authoritative treatise on aviation insurance, currently in its fourth edition, Margo on Aviation Insurance, 2014 and in the process of updating this highly-regarded work for a fifth edition. She also is currently one of the editors of Shawcross & Beaumont Air Law, and is the author of chapters on aviation insurance in the New York State Bar Association’s Insurance Law Practice (chapters on Aviation and Space Insurance). She is also co-author of the chapter “An Aviation Insurance Primer: An Overview for the Aviation Practitioner” in the American Bar Association publication Litigating the Aviation Case: From Pre-Trial to Closing Argument.

She is a member of the American Bar Association, the Association Internationale De Droit Des Assurances (AIDA International Association for Insurance Law), the New York Womens Bar Association (NYWBA), the International Aviation Womens Association (IAWA), The Association of the Bar of the City of New York, the International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC), the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel (FDCC) and Litigation Counsel of America, The Trial Lawyer Honorary Society (Fellow).

Kathy is a former Member of the Board of Trustees of Vaughn College of Aeronautics and Technology, and voted Trustee Emerita for her exemplary service.  She was honored by the NYWBA with The Doris S. Hoffman Service Award.  The award is given to NYWBA members who have demonstrated exceptional leadership and commitment to serving the Association and enhancing the status of women in society and the law. She is also a founding member of IAWA and has served as a former President, Board and Advisory Board Member.  In 2012, Kathy received the International Aviation Womens Association’s first “IAWA Aviation Woman of Excellence Award.” Kathy also served as President and Board member of the New York Womens Bar Association Foundation.

Newsletters and Bulletins

June 30, 2016 | Client Bulletins
Skycap Complaint About Soccer Team Tips Is Not Protected by NLRA

June 20, 2016 | Client Bulletins
New York’s Highest Court Confirms Longstanding Rule that Application of Common Interest Doctrine is Confined to Pending and Anticipated Litigation Only

May 9, 2016 | Client Bulletins
New York’s Highest Court Interprets Specific Excess Insurance Policy Language to Require “All Sums” Allocation and Vertical Exhaustion of Underlying Policies

February 18, 2016 | Client Bulletins
Fifth Circuit Affirms AIR 21 Pilot Whistleblower Retaliation Award

March 15, 2013 | Newsletters
Recent Federal and U.S. Supreme Court Class Action Decisions

January 15, 2013 | Newsletters
DOT Imposes Stiff Fines on Foreign Carriers for Tarmac Delays

June 15, 2012 | Newsletters
No Recovery Against Terminal Operator for Delays on Tarmac

March 15, 2012 | Newsletters
Summary of Pending Litigation in the United States Arising from European Union Regulation EC 261

September 15, 2011 | Newsletters
Lessor Liability: Florida Supreme Court Limits Pre- Emptive Effect of Federal Owner/Lessor Liability Statute in Vreeland v. Ferrer. (Special Edition Fall 2011)

July 1, 2011 | Client Bulletins
With Two Products Liability Cases, U.S. Supreme Court Clarifies, then Muddles, the “Stream of Commerce” Theory of Personal Jurisdiction

June 1, 2009 | Newsletters
The Supreme Court Raises the Bar: Stricter Pleading Requirements Imposed on Plaintiffs

Published Works and Presentations

Contributing co-author, “An Aviation Insurance Primer: An Overview for the Aviation Practitioner” (chapter 31), Litigating the Aviation Case. 4th edition, American Bar Association, 2017.

Contributing Editor, Shawcross and Beaumont on Air Law.

Author, “Aviation and Space Insurance,” Chapter 30, in New York State Bar Association’s Insurance Law Practice (2016).

Co-Author, Margo on Aviation Insurance (4^th Edition, 2014).

Presenter, IATA Risk Insurance Management Conference, London, England (July 2014).

Panelist, “Emerging Insurance Issues”, McGill University/PEOPIL Seventh Annual Conference on International Aviation Law & Insurance, London, England (April 10-11, 2014).

U.S. Supreme Court Strikes Down Employment Class Action Suit Against Wal-Mart, Finds Insufficient Commonality Among Female Plaintiffs. Condon & Forsyth LLP Client Alert (June 2011).

Panelist, “Labor and Employment: Is it a New World? What Has Changed and What Will Change Next?”, IADC Corporate Counsel College, Chicago, IL (April 14-15, 2011).

Panelist, “Airline Insurance: Legal and Contractual Considerations”, Aircraft Transactions Forum, Scottsdale, AZ (February 28 – March 1, 2011).

Author, “The Unique Role of the Aviation Coverage Counsel.” Inside the Minds: Negotiating Insurance Policy Disputes. (Aspatore, March 2011).

Contributor, The Liability Reporter, published jointly by IATA and Condon & Forsyth LLP (13th ed., February 2010).

Risk Allocation Under AVN 67B and Customer Support Agreements: Fasten Your Seatbelt. Condon & Forsyth LLP Newsletter (Spring 2010).

Speaker, “Hot Topics in Aviation Insurance”, Aviation Law & Insurance Symposium, Orlando, FL (January 6-8, 2010).

Congress Passes the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act and Extends Timeframe for Employees to Bring Discrimination Claims. Condon & Forsyth LLP Newsletter (September 2009).

Co-Moderator, “Aviation Insurance for the General Practitioner: Demystifying the Terms, the Market in Which It’s Written, and the Types of Coverage”, Aviation Conference Institute’s Aviation Litigation Forum, Boston, MA (June 23- 24, 2009).

Forum Non Conveniens – The Swinging Pendulum to Dismissal of Foreign Aviation Accident Cases in the United States. Condon & Forsyth LLP Newsletter (Spring 2009).

Employer Duty to WARN Under Recent New York Legislation. Condon & Forsyth LLP Client Bulletin (January 2009).

Federal Appeals Court Holds Texas Public Policy Bars Insurance of Punitive Damages for Corporate Misconduct. Condon & Forsyth LLP Newsletter (Fall 2008).

Long-Anticipated Decision in Texas on Insurability of Punitive Damages. Condon & Forsyth LLP Newsletter (Special Edition February 2008).

Attempts by Plaintiffs to Defeat Forum Non Conveniens Motions by Alleging Aircraft Owner or Lessor Liability. Condon & Forsyth LLP Newsletter (Winter 2008).

Speaker, “Balancing the Interests of Insureds and Insurers”, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Worldwide Aviation Law & Insurance Symposium, Orlando, FL (January 9-11, 2008).

Co-author, “Aviation Insurance Primer: An Overview for the Aviation Practitioner”, ABA Litigating the Aviation Case (3d Edition, 2008).

Speaker, “Critical Issues in the Aviation Insurance Industry”, ABA TIPS Aviation and Space Law Litigation Annual Conference, Washington, DC (October 18-19, 2007).

Panelist, “Critical Issues in Aviation Insurance and the Insured Litigation”, ABA Section of Litigation – Aviation Litigation Committee Seminar, New York, NY (June 1, 2007).

Panelist, “Current Aviation Insurance Issues”, Airfinance Journal’s Air Law Conference, London, England (February 2007).

Contributor, International Association of Insurance Law/Association Internationale de Droit des Assurances, AIDA Reinsurance Working Party Report No.4: The Meaning of Event and Similar Phrases in Reinsurance Contracts – A Comparative Study (October 2004).

Editor, International Association of Insurance Law/Association Internationale de Droit des Assurances, AIDA Reinsurance Working Party Report No.5: Evidence of Custom and Practice in the Interpretation of Reinsurance Contracts (November 2004).

Presenter, “War, Hijackings, Terrorism and Aviation Insurance”, IATA Airline Insurance Rendezvous, Paris, France (March 2003).

Presenter, “Aviation Insurance After September 11”, International Association of Insurance Law/Association Internationale de Droit des Assurances, AIDA World Congress, New York, NY (October 2002).

Panelist, “War Risk & Terrorism Coverage”, Aviation Insurance Association’s 26th Annual Educational Conference, Kansas City, MO (April 2002).

Author, “The Use of Summary Judgment in Defending Employment Discrimination Cases”, ABA Litigating the Employment Tort Case, 2d ed. (2001).

Author, “Insurance Coverage in the Year 2000”, 52 CPCU Journal (Spring 1999).

Author, “Y2K Aviation Issues”, Air and Space Lawyer (Winter 1999).

Speaker, “When Multiple Insurance Policies Apply: The Emerging Battle Between Policyholders and Insurers”, Embry- Riddle Aeronautical University 11th Annual Aviation Law/Insurance Symposium, Daytona Beach, FL (January 1998).

Author, “Employment Law — U.S. Supreme Court Clarifies Employer Liability for Sexual Harassment by Supervisors”, 3:3 The Alert (September 1998).

Author, “Important Legal Issues Involving the Year 2000 Problem”, 3:3 The Alert (September 1998).

Author, “The Year 2000”, 3:3 The Alert (September 1998).

Co-taught Liability Section at IATA International Air Law Workshop, Geneva, Switzerland (June 1998 and June 1999).

Speaker, “When Multiple Insurance Policies Apply: The Emerging Battle Between Policyholders and Insurers”, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University Annual Aviation Law/Insurance Symposium, Daytona Beach, FL (January 1998).

Contributor, International Association of Insurance Law/Association Internationale de Droit des Assurances (AIDA) publication, What is Reinsurance? Edited by Robert Merkin (LLP 1998).

Presenter, “Recent Developments in US Aviation Law”, 51^st Annual WACRA Conference 1997, Vienna, Austria (October 28-31, 1997).

Author, “EEOC Guidelines on Psychiatric Disabilities: Clarification or Confusion?”, 7:7 The Alert (June 1997).

Author, “Employment References: What Are An Employer’s Risks?”, 7:7 The Alert (June 1997).

Author, “Liability and Insurance Coverage for Medical Monitoring Awards: Will Policyholders Get Relief?”, 7 Environmental Claims Journal 19 (Spring 1995).

Author, “To the Courthouse: Avoiding Reinsurance Arbitration Clauses”, Air & Space Lawyer (Winter 1995).

Author, “Coverage for Punitive Damages: Choice of Law Shell Game”, 60 Defense Counsel Journal 399 (July 1993).

Workshop Facilitator, “Personal Injury – Teamwork-Customer Relations and Their Lawyers”, 47^th Annual WACRA Conference 1993, Brussels, Belgium (September 27-30, 1993).

Author, “Technology in the Courtroom: Preparing for the 21st Century”, New York Law Journal (October 12, 1993).

Author, “Products Liability Coverage After Park-Ohio: The Pollution Exclusion Rides Again”, 5 Environmental Claims Journal 477 (Summer 1993).

Author, “The Status of Aviation Legislation”, Air & Space Lawyer (Winter 1992).