Mr. O’Connor is a senior associate in the Litigation Department. His experience includes aviation, product liability, insurance/reinsurance, toxic tort, and general litigation matters. He has tried cases to verdict in federal and state court. His practice involves complex and multi-district litigation, with an emphasis on aviation and high exposure insurance defense matters. Mr. O’Connor’s specialties include treaty liability for air carriers under the Warsaw and Montreal Conventions, government investigations of major aviation accidents, and case management techniques for mass tort litigation.

Mr. O’Connor also has extensive insurance experience, including a six-month secondment to the Group General Counsel of Amlin, PLC – the largest Lloyd’s insurer in the London market. Mr. O’Connor routinely advises clients on coverage and risk management issues.

Mr. O’Connor has been recognized by his peers as a finalist for The San Diego Daily Transcript’s “2008 Young Attorneys.” This honor is awarded to the city’s top associates and is based on “work ethic and organization, knowledge and enthusiasm, professional ethics, and commitment to furthering the interest of justice in society.” He is on the Leadership Development Committee for the San Diego chapter of the Association of Business Trial Lawyers, and is a Barrister in the Honorable J. Clifford Wallace Chapter of the American Inns of Court.

Prior to joining Morrison & Foerster in 2004, Mr. O’Connor was an associate of Gray Cary Ware and Freidenrich LLP. He worked in the Aviation Litigation Section of the United States Department of Justice (1999) and was an extern for the Honorable James F. Stiven, U.S. Magistrate Judge, United States District Court (1998).

Mr. O’Connor received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, San Diego (1998) and his J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center (2001). During college he was a national level swimmer and a three-time NCAA All American.

Representative Matters

Air Crash Litigation

• Flash Airlines Flight 604
• Alaska Airlines Flight 261
• Southwest Airlines Flight 1455
• Korean Airlines Flight 801

Helicopter Accident Litigation

• Chinook MH-47E Helicopter Crash in Afghanistan on February 18, 2007
• Paullus/Grizzly Mountain Aviation et al v. McTurbine, et al.
• Boeing Vertol 107-II Accident near Bella Coola, British Columbia
• Apache AH-64A Helicopter Crash near Kandahar, Afghanistan on July 2, 2006
• Apache AH-64D Helicopter Crash near Tikrit, Iraq on August 14, 2003

Airline Liability Cases

• Alaska Airlines Flight 536 Depressurization Cases
• Ginena v. Alaska Airlines
• Renaud v. United Airlines
• Gaylord v. United Airlines
• Donnelly v. Northwest Airlines

General Aviation Product Liability Cases

• Epic Aviation (Air BP Aviation Services Fuel Contamination Litigation)
• Cessna Citation Jet Crash Near Van Nuys on January 12, 2007
• Cessna Caravan 208B Litigation

Airport Liability Cases

• In re Palomar Airport Crash of January 24, 2006
• Conole v. County of San Diego (Gillespie Field)
• Whelan v. County of San Diego (McClellan-Palomar)
• Riedlin v. City of Hayward (Hayward Executive Airport)

Insurance Cases

• Honeywell International Inc. et al. v. Chadwick-Helmuth Electronics, Co. et al.
• Padres Baseball Club v. Willis Insurance Services of California (OCIP Placement)
• Estes v. Doe Insurance Agents (Cedar Fire)

Representative Publications

• Co-author with Ellen Nudelman, “Preemption On The Mind: Recent High Court Rulings,” Product Liability Law360, March 12, 2008
• Co-Author with Don Rushing, “New California Law Allows for Split-Recovery of Punitive Damages Awards,” Martindale-Hubbell, spring 2005
• Co-Author with Jim Huston, “Admiralty Law and Jurisdiction in Air Crash Cases,” Journal of Air Law and Commerce, Vol. 69, No. 2, spring 2004 issue

Representative Speaking Engagements

• Speaker, “The Admissibility of Expert Testimony in Aviation Cases,” Presented at the TIPS Aviation and Space Law Committee’s annual conference, Washington, DC, October 2006
• Speaker, “Passenger Lawsuits in a Post 9/11 World: Immunity and Preemption Defenses All the Rage,” Presented with Ellen Nudelman at the 33rd Annual Aviation Law and Insurance Seminar, King County, WA, September 2006
• Speaker, Aviation Insurance Panel, ATLA 2004 Boston Annual Convention, July 2004