Aviation Attorney in Scottsdale, Arizona
Can you tell us about a memorable aviation case you handled?
Can you tell us about a memorable aviation case you handled?
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I think perhaps the most interesting
case I’ve had in the aviation in the
last several years
was I had the city of Kingman call me up
Kingman
has an old Army Air corps field
that was
given to its predecessor and interest on
condition that they use it for Aviation
purposes and this is the old graveyard
for the b-17s in World War II
well they had
leased this property to an airport
Authority
Arizona has a statutory scheme that
allows airport authorities they are
non-profit corporations they are
juridical entities they can soon be sued
and the sponsor or the they become the
sponsor of the airport even the old
though the airport itself is owned by
the city
well this sponsor of the airport this
uh
uh juridical entity
this Corporation was a law unto itself
it ran the airport by Jingo and it was
going to do with it what it wanted and
it didn’t have to answer the voters and
it didn’t have to answer the city so the
city came to me and says you know we
need we need to cancel that lease can we
find him and breach somehow
well the lease was written totally
lopsided
It Was Written of course
by the airport authorities lawyers
and it gave the airport Authority
remedy and cure periods that were 90
days long
so if you said they’re in violation of
some portion of the lease
you had to give them notice and they had
90 days to cure or as is typical in
commercial leases to begin a cure
so I told Kingman I said well that’s not
going to work
I said but you know what we can do
why don’t we condemn
the airport’s Authority airport
authorities interests in the lease
they said what do you mean I says you’re
a sovereign
you’ve got the right of condemnation
you can just condemn
their property rights and take it away
from them I did that
now
I ended up in federal court I ended up
in the ninth circuit
but within six months
I had an order
returning
the airport to the city
not because they breached the lease
but because the city exercised its
Sovereign rights
to condemn that property and now I’m
citing cases back from the 1790s
about the uh the contract clause in the
Constitution and how that interfaces
with a sovereign’s power if you’re a
state
it was a fascinating case and I love
that case
and I gotta tell you it was shocking to
the airport Authority that we booted out
of that airport
and surprising to the city that hired me
to accomplish what everyone had told
them couldn’t be done
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Scottsdale, AZ commercial litigation attorney Daryl Williams tells the story of a memorable aviation case he handled. He explains that perhaps one of the most intriguing cases I’ve encountered in the field of aviation in recent years was when the city of Kingman reached out to me. Kingman possesses an old Army Air Corps field that was handed down to its predecessor with the condition that it be utilized for aviation purposes. This particular airfield served as the resting place for the B-17 bombers during World War II.
The city had leased this property to an airport authority—an organization established as a non-profit corporation under Arizona’s statutory scheme. These airport authorities act as the sponsors of the airports, even though the airports themselves are owned by the cities. However, this particular airport authority, functioning as a separate legal entity, operated the airport with complete autonomy. It disregarded the wishes of the voters and the city, leading the city to seek my assistance.
The city approached me with the objective of canceling the lease and finding a way to breach it. Unfortunately, the lease agreement heavily favored the airport authority as it was drafted by their own lawyers. The agreement provided the airport authority with lengthy remedy and cure periods of 90 days. This meant that if a violation of the lease occurred, a notice had to be given, allowing the authority 90 days to rectify the situation—a common practice in commercial leases.
Realizing that this approach would not yield the desired outcome, I proposed an alternative solution to Kingman. I suggested that they exercise their sovereign right of condemnation and seize the airport authority’s interests in the lease. The city was initially perplexed by this idea, so I explained that as a sovereign entity, they possessed the power to condemn and take away the property rights held by the authority. With their agreement, we proceeded accordingly.
This course of action eventually led us to federal court and, specifically, the ninth circuit. However, within a relatively short period of six months, we obtained a court order that restored the airport to the city. The order was not based on the airport authority breaching the lease, but rather on the city’s exercise of its sovereign rights to condemn the property. During the legal proceedings, I referenced cases dating back to the 1790s, highlighting the contract clause in the Constitution and its interaction with the powers of a sovereign state.
It was a fascinating case, and I thoroughly enjoyed working on it. The outcome came as a shock to the airport authority, which was expelled from the airport, and it was a pleasant surprise for the city that had hired me. Many had claimed that such a feat could not be accomplished, but we proved them wrong.
