After law school, I clerked for Judge David C. Norton at the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina, in Charleston. Judge Norton is still on the bench, and to this day I have never made a career decision without calling him for advice. When I finished my clerkship, I then worked as a litigator for law firms in Charleston, when a high school friend of mine, Dave Pflieger, who was a lawyer working at Delta Air Lines, called me and convinced me to leave Charleston for an incredible opportunity as an in-house lawyer at Delta in Atlanta. Dave went on to be the general counsel of Virgin America and later ran Fiji Airways. After Delta, I returned to Charleston in 2004, where I developed and grew a national aviation law practice leveraging the contacts and knowledge that I had gained while at Delta.
When Boeing announced it was coming to Charleston in 2009, I knew that an in-house legal position with Boeing in Charleston would be my dream job. Ironically, I got this job as a result of my being on the Forum’s Governing Committee with a senior Boeing lawyer, Dick Hauser. At that time, Dick was the senior lawyer in Boeing’s D.C. office. I told him over a few drinks at an ABA Forum CLE reception in D.C. that I was very interested in working for Boeing in Charleston. He quickly stated that he did not think Boeing would need a lawyer in South Carolina anytime soon but that he would pass my name along. A few months later, I was called by then–Assistant General Counsel Brett Gerry, and I started the interview process. Brett was my first boss at Boeing and is another mentor who trusted me enough as the first Boeing lawyer in South Carolina. Shortly after he hired me, Brett called me to tell me the National Labor Relations Board was moving forward with a legal action to try to stop the building of the multimillion-dollar Charleston 787 factory. We ultimately prevailed in that action, but it garnered significant national media attention and became rather political during a heated presidential election year. Brett went on to become the president of Boeing Japan and is now the general counsel of Boeing.
A&SL: What functions are in your department, and how is your team organized?
MCF: My team has responsibility for South Carolina operations, where we build the 787 Dreamliner with several thousand employees. I also advise Boeing’s engineering department, which consists of over 50,000 incredibly smart engineers. Finally, we handle regulatory, compliance, and enforcement matters with the FAA. The team consists of just four exceptional lawyers, two of whom are in Charleston, one who is in Seattle, and one who is in Washington, D.C. Overall, our law department is composed of some of the best lawyers across every possible practice area. They are smart, diverse, hard-working, and truly enjoyable people. I am very fortunate to be a part of this team.
A&SL: What are your top priorities as chief counsel at Boeing, and what is the challenge that concerns you most?
MCF: My top two priorities are providing excellent and timely legal advice and making sure my team balances work life with family life. We handle some incredibly complex and highly visible matters that take time and dedication to work through to provide the best advice that we can give to the company—and it has to be right. That’s a very difficult challenge. I firmly believe that the effectiveness of our work is greater when we take time for ourselves personally and that it’s not all about work. That has been particularly true over the past year.
A&SL: What do you and your team do to make sure you are involved in business decisions at Boeing?
MCF: I was told very early in my career at Delta Air Lines that to be an effective in-house lawyer, you have to know the business. At Delta, I spent an inordinate amount of time learning air carrier operations. I even got an FAA-approved jump-seat card so I could fly in the cockpit and learn from the flight crew. (They must have thought at the time, “Who gave the lawyer permission to be in the cockpit?”) In 2010, when I was hired by Mike Luttig, then general counsel of Boeing and a former Fourth Circuit judge, he told me, “If they don’t like you and you are not invited to the meeting, you are of no value to me.” So, I spent my first year at Boeing walking the manufacturing floor every single morning with the operations leaders. That walking status meeting visited every manufacturing station in three major factory buildings. It lasted about two hours. It started at 7:00 am sharp, and I was not late. I learned the business. Thankfully, I was “invited to the meetings.”
A&SL: Looking back, was there anybody in the field of aviation law who had a lasting effect on you?
MCF: Absolutely. There have been so many great aviation lawyers to whom I owe my success. I have already mentioned a few. At Delta, I worked for Greg Riggs, who later became Delta’s general counsel. I was hired at Delta as the chief operations attorney 41 days before 9/11. Greg was a consummate Southern gentleman, exceptional aviation lawyer, and lifelong Delta employee. He was yet another phenomenal mentor who generously shared his time and experiences with me and taught me valuable lifelong lessons. He knew the airlines as well as the CEO and was well-respected by the most senior Delta pilots. Greg developed and presented a legal presentation at the “In Command” class over many years that all newly promoted Delta airline captains were required to take that explained their significant role, the broad responsibility, and their leadership expectations as the “captain in command of the ship.” I was able to teach that class during my time there, and it was not uncommon for Greg and me, when passing through the Atlanta concourse during our travels, to run into Delta captains who would stop us to say that, many years later, they still remembered that class. Of course, Boeing’s larger-than-life and now-retired general counsel Mike Luttig was an extraordinary legal strategist to watch in real time. At my last of three grueling job interviews with him, he said: “Fava, I’m just not sure you are the guy for the job.” In an excited utterance, I said: “Judge, I’m not sure I want the job.” He hired me four weeks later.
A&SL: What have been some of the most challenging and most rewarding moments in your career thus far?
MCF: Clearly, one of the most challenging times was my first few years after 9/11 at Delta. I was studying for my second bar exam as a condition to work for Delta while handling insured passenger litigation as well as FAA, DOT and TSA regulatory enforcement actions. The bittersweet 20-year anniversary of 9/11 ironically brought back many fond memories of those years. The experience allowed me to meet some incredible people in our industry and move back to Charleston, build a thriving aviation law practice, and ultimately be in the position to get hired by Boeing.
A&SL: What attributes do you especially value among the various outside counsel with whom you work?
MCF: We are a very small practice group, so I rely significantly on outside counsel for specific matters when I know they can deliver quickly and more efficiently than we might be able to. Most of all, I value their expertise, responsiveness, and friendship. And, of course, the ability to deliver an exceptional product, typically in a very compressed time period.
A&SL: What advice do you have for new lawyers and law students interested in pursuing a career in aviation law?
MCF: The practice of law is tough, so surround yourself with others who enjoy aviation law if that is what you want to do. It is a very small national practice group. Join this Forum and get active. Write and speak on the topic. I even spent my own money and many nonbillable hours as a young lawyer traveling to and attending aviation law conferences. And finally, be patient. It takes many years to build the lasting relationships, but it is a fascinating and exciting practice area with some exceptional practitioners.
A&SL: What have you been reading or watching for enjoyment lately?
MCF: I recently read President Obama’s A Promised Land. As a political junkie who admires professionalism in politics and the practice of law, I found it such a great insider memoir. Prior to the pandemic, I rarely watched TV. However, I have learned the art of binge-watching, mostly documentaries and survival stories (who doesn’t want to live alone in the breathtaking Alaska wilderness and fly in a bushwacker or seaplane?). For much-needed brevity and comic relief of late, I watched all of Schitt’s Creek and of course, most recently, Ted Lasso (on my iPad in the middle of the night). I am now in the middle of Yellowstone. However, my all-time pandemic favorite was The Last Dance. I was at UNC with Michael Jordan back in the mid-80s. Not only is he the G.O.A.T., but I was always inspired by his work ethic and unyielding drive for excellence, even after a heartbreaking loss—which we will all experience in our legal careers.
