A New Year, New Challenges, New Opportunities
2024 has arrived and Aerlex Law Group looks forward to working with our clients, colleagues and friends in the business aviation industry in meeting the trials, tests and transactions the year is sure to bring.
As we enter our 19th year, Aerlex remains one of the best-known, most-respected and often-honored names in the aviation industry. Our president, Stephen Hofer, long known as the “Aviation Attorney to the Stars,” has just been selected as a Southern California Super Lawyer for the 15th consecutive year, a distinction achieved by fewer than 1,200 attorneys out of 86,000 lawyers in a 10-county region.
The Super Lawyers citation comes on the heels of a number of other prized endorsements, including:
✈ Steve’s selection by London-based Chambers and Partners as one of the 22 top lawyers globally in the private aircraft field for high-net-worth individuals (the eighth straight year Steve has been ranked by Chambers);
✈ inclusion in The Spear’s 500 2023 Legal Indices, one of only 28 attorneys worldwide named as the best aviation and yacht lawyers for high-net-worth individuals;
✈ his listing by Business Today News as one of the “Top 10 Global Private Aircraft Lawyers Shaping the Aviation Legal Landscape in 2023”; and
✈ his seventh consecutive nomination as a Lawyer of Distinction.
Chambers also tagged Aerlex as one of the seven best aviation law firms in the world, recognizing the more than 1,100 aircraft transactions valued at more than $8 billion that Aerlex has handled since its founding.
Honors are nice, but we’re not interested in resting on our laurels and the entire Aerlex team looks forward to accomplishing even more for our clients in 2024.
Brian Monkarsh remains one of the most highly respected aircraft transactional attorneys in the country, an intelligent and perceptive counselor who sees both the big picture and the little details and makes certain aircraft sales and purchases get done, get done right and get done on time.
Ron Sittler is an experienced and aggressive litigator who knows the ins-and-outs of both the judicial and arbitration systems and will fight tenaciously for our clients’ rights while, at the same time, always being alert to the possibility of a smart settlement.
Our knowledgeable paralegals, Jennifer Wright and Susan Orozco-Neu, take care to make sure every detail is handled properly, whether it’s a closing checklist or a pleading that needs to be filed.
Our regulatory and compliance consultant, Bob Frost, brings his half-century of aviation experience and his prior employment as a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspector to bear when it comes to navigating the challenging labyrinth of bureaucracy and regulations, both domestically and internationally.
We also are making a renewed commitment to Aerlex Tax Services and our sister entity will continue to provide guidance and support in advising aircraft buyers regarding potential exposure to sales and use tax in every state in the country, preparing and submitting tax exemption applications and contesting excessively high property tax appraisals, both with county auditors and before assessment appeals boards.
We started this law firm in 2005 with a simple premise in mind: we wanted to build the very best aviation boutique firm we could – and so, whether it’s an aircraft sale or purchase, fixed-wing or rotorcraft, whole aircraft or fractional share, leasing or time-sharing, aircraft ownership structuring, aircraft management, crewing, insurance policies or claims, hangaring, fuel and environmental concerns, airport issues, flight schools, aircraft maintenance, repair or overhaul, FAA or DOT regulatory questions, compliance and enforcement actions, NTSB investigations, operations under FAR Parts 119, 121, 125, 135, 137, 61/141 or 145, or dispute resolution or litigation, we want Aerlex to be your law firm.
For 2024, Aerlex’s motto is “Up, Up and Away.” We are using the arrival of the new year as an opportunity to reach out and reconnect with our clients and our compatriots in corporate and private aviation. We also welcome hearing from you. Feel free to call, email, text or visit our website – we would love to hear from friends, old and new, in order to build a stronger and more resilient network of clients, collaborators and team members, learn more about your needs and goals and how we can help you overcome any obstacles in your path. You’re cleared for takeoff with Aerlex. Now let’s work together to achieve success in the sky!