A&SL: You previously worked at Saab and Rolls-Royce before coming to the FAA. What did your work entail at those companies?
Ironically, both companies are well-known car brands that no longer manufacture automobiles! They’re both steeped in defense and civilian aircraft-related products. When I joined Rolls-Royce as Global Legal Counsel, I supported their defense and civil businesses. As Director of Compliance for North and South America, I spent a fair amount of time working to minimize damage from the Operation Car Wash bribery scandal in Brazil and some of the related international investigations, which culminated in me helping build a stronger compliance program.
As SAAB’s EVP, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, I supported its efforts in component manufacturing and air traffic management software in the U.S. and Canada while also providing legal and strategic counsel to the CEO and the board.
A&SL: You also served as the Inspector General at the U.S. Government Printing Office. What kind of work did you do there?
My job was to protect the public by making sure it got what it paid for and that records were accurate. This may surprise people, but the printing industry ranks third in graft, according to statistics. We had cases where people would print bogus excerpts from the Congressional Record to commit fraud. Other cases involved documents that were supposed to last 50 years but would not last nearly that long because printers would use flimsy paper after quoting and charging the government for heavy stock product.
A&SL: What has been a memorable accomplishment during your legal career?
The work on the bribery scandal [Operation Car Wash] was marquee. It was a mammoth undertaking in a crisis environment. It probably is not an understatement to say every lawyer hopes to be involved in “a bet-the-company” project where the survival of the company is at stake. Global scandals can be corporation killers. I was immensely proud to be a leader on the team that helped stave that off while putting Rolls-Royce in a better position ethically and operationally.
A&SL: What led you to take the FAA Chief Counsel job?
I knew I’d be serving during arguably the most exciting and challenging time in FAA history due to the growth of commercial space and advanced air mobility, a pending reauthorization, and some massive, post-COVID workforce changes. I also would have the honor of serving under President Joe Biden and Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who were committed to restoring our standing internationally, investing in aviation infrastructure, and showing respect for the incredibly devoted public servants who keep our national air space the safest on the planet. The FAA is represented by some of the best, and we owe them our support.
A&SL: Since joining the FAA, what has surprised you the most about the FAA and its legal office?
First, I knew the Chief Counsel was the third-highest ranking officer at the FAA, but I was surprised at how nearly every action requires the imprimatur of the Chief Counsel on legal sufficiency, though this makes sense when you look at how heavily regulated aviation is.
Second, our legal office was perceived by some as not customer focused. I thought this impression was largely unfair, but the FAA can sometimes be siloed like any large organization, and our attorneys were not always brought into a project at inception. This is why I created the Division Counsel role, which would have a lead attorney reporting to each line of business to learn the direction of each project. This approach would speed the delivery of our entire regulatory and legal portfolio. We’re not moving as fast I’d like, but some of that is due to the restraints of the law. Nonetheless, we’ve made great strides without compromising safety, and we’re not done yet.
Last, I was surprised to learn that 40% of the Chief Counsel’s Office is retirement-eligible in the next three years (over 50% of its leadership ranks), and the FAA overall has only slightly better numbers. That definitely added urgency to recruiting and ensuring we get as many diverse communities as possible interested in aviation and into the agency. Consequently, succession planning has been crucial. We’re building a bench of leadership for the agency, bringing in new talent, elevating talent already within the agency who perhaps were ready for more challenges but were languishing in roles that did not take full enough advantage of their talents, and changing our excellent lawyers who were misplaced in managerial roles simply because they are superb attorneys.
A&SL: What are the biggest challenges for the FAA today and what do you hope to accomplish at the FAA?
There is a lot that the FAA is doing: integrating eVTOLs and UAS (unmanned aircraft system) into the NAS (National Aircraft System); facilitating an increase in commercial space launches and reentries while regulating the industry to protect public health and safety; implementing strategic traffic management initiatives as demand for commercial air travel exceeds pre-COVID levels; and coping with the aging workforce I noted and personnel changes from COVID. We’re facing the loss of a lot of institutional memory, and because most aviation positions are highly technical, it takes time to build the skills and gain the experience needed to perform at the highest level. For the industry, there are capacity issues we need to deal with and some outdated technology and facilities, which we’ve begun refurbishing and modernizing.
As far as goals go, we are reorganizing to accelerate rulemaking and overall legal review times for our clients and stakeholders, fostering a closer working relationship with the DOT Office of the Secretary, and being more engaged with industry, labor, and Congress, especially as we move through reauthorization. We are also creating a succession plan that ensures we continue to provide exceptional legal guidance and work product and allocate personnel to areas of urgent need and opportunity with a forward focus.
For example, I set up an information law and national security branch to deal with the increasing FOIA workload and to help the FAA protect its intellectual property and handle cybersecurity issues, respectively. I also stood up an internal Emerging Technologies Working Group to ensure we’re looking ahead.
I hope that, at the end of my tenure, those we serve will say my time was consequential. But if I get at least the accolade Harry Truman once noted favorably on a tombstone — “He did his damnedest”— I can live with that.
A&SL: What’s your passion when you’re not at work?
I like hiking, cooking, and music. Hiking is my way to maintain an exercise regime while communing with nature. Cooking is my “me time.” My family knows to clear out when I am in the kitchen. Music is my decompression. I always played an instrument, be it tuba, saxophone, or trombone, and I was in the glee club, though now my singing is restricted to the shower or while I’m alone in my car.
But my main non-work passion is my 18-year-old brother, whom I was entrusted with guardianship last year when his mother passed away (our mutual father passed away in 2018). I am committed to ensuring he develops into the young man we know he is capable of being.
