A look at an HAI member up close and personal.
Gilchrist Aviation Law, based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, provides aviation title, registration, finance, and leasing counsel to national and international aviation companies and their outside legal counsel. The firm maintains proximity to the FAA Registry offices in Oklahoma City and serves as special FAA and International Registry (IR) counsel throughout the world, which enables the practice to register and search financial interests in aircraft assets.
In addition to providing legal counsel in aviation matters, the firm writes legal opinions regarding aircraft registration, titles, financing, leasing, and liens, as well as offering escrow services. As special FAA counsel, Gilchrist Aviation Law assists in drafting and preparing documents, prepositioning executed documents in Oklahoma City in advance of closing, and filing instruments with the FAA Registry upon closing.
Serving Domestic and International Interests
Gilchrist also serves as special Cape Town Convention counsel, advising on international and other interests registrable on the IR and serving as IR registering agent for one or all parties to a transaction. (The Cape Town Convention, adopted under the auspices of the International Civil Aviation Organization, is meant to resolve problems obtaining rights to high-value aviation assets, including helicopters, thereby facilitating the financing process.)
Gilchrist maintains a daily presence at the FAA Registry in order to access, examine, and monitor the title, registration, and lien records for aircraft that are or have been registered in the United States. In addition, the firm maintains its status as a professional user on the IR for instant and comprehensive access to international online aircraft and engine records.
The firm also maintains a close working relationship with the FAA’s Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center (MMAC) counsel to secure advisory opinions on a variety of matters, such as registration of aircraft under ownership trusts, statutory trusts, and complex financing structures. The MMAC, an FAA regional office, is located in Oklahoma City.
Regulatory Compliance and Aircraft Transactions
Gilchrist Aviation Law has counseled business aircraft owners, lessors, lessees, and lenders for many years on regulatory compliance. The firm also represents air carriers, manufacturers, lessors, and lenders worldwide in connection with commercial aircraft transactions and serves as special counsel to other law firms for filings involving the FAA Registry and/or the IR.
Gilchrist advises clients on structuring transactions for perfected priority mortgages and regulatory compliance while aiming to satisfy the business and timing objectives of the parties involved.
As special counsel for making filings with the FAA Registry (for US transactions) and the IR (for both US and international transactions), Gilchrist issues legal opinions that detail the rights and interests established under mortgages and finance leases between the transaction parties under the US transportation code (Title 49) and/or the Cape Town Convention.
