Arthur Alan Wolk
Encyclopedia
Arthur Alan Wolk is an attorney, author and the founding partner of The Wolk Law Firm in Philadelphia, PA, which specializes in aviation law
and air crash litigation for plaintiffs.
Wolk is also an author, editor and lecturer on aviation law and air safety with articles published by The Aviation Consumer, Aviation Safety and other publications and has appeared on ABC
Evening News, CBS Evening News
, CNBC
, and CNN
Larry King
Live.
Wolk is admitted to practice law in Pennsylvania.
He received his B.S. degree, cum laude, from Temple University
in 1965, and his J.D. degree from Temple University School of Law in 1968.
USAir 427, Aliquippa, PA., Pittsburgh, B-737. The flight crashed on September 8, 1994, killing everyone on board. Wolk speculated the cause of the crash was rudder failure and appeared the next day on ABC Evening News for Friday September 9, 1994 Peter Jennings
reporter, in this program Wolk offered views on the cause of the crash. Wolk published his opinion that rudder failure was the likely cause of USAir 427 crash in the Pennsylvania Law Weekly, October 10, 1994. On October 25 he appeared on CBS Evening News with Reporter Dan Rather
October 25, 1994, and offered comments about possible rudder failure. After the longest investigation in aviation history, more than four and a half years later, the National Transportation Safety Board
concluded the probable cause was rudder failure. Wolk was the plaintiffs attorney in Hamley vs. The Boeing Corporation, the manufacturer of USAir's B-737 and won the case establishing that it was the rudder actuator that failed.
Other notable cases Wolk was involved in include: Comair 3272, Monroe, MI, (Detroit), EMB-120;
Swissair 111, Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia, MD-11; EgyptAir 990, near Nantucket, MA, Boeing 767
; and Alaska Air 261, Port Mugu, CA, MD-83. Although some of these cases resulted in multi-million dollar payments from the defendants, aviation lawyers generally charge about 23% of the amount as a contingency fee.
In 2010, Wolk won a $89 million jury award ($24.7 million in compensatory damages and $64 million in punitive damages) in Pridgen v. Avco Corp. The award was the largest out of Philadelphia Common Pleas Court in the previous five years. That case involved a 1999 airplane crash caused by a faulty carburetor. The defendants argued that lawsuit was barred by the General Aviation Revitalization Act of 1994, which bars claims against an aircraft or component manufacturer more than 18 years from when the product was made. However, Wolk argued that suit should go forward because the manufacturer willfully and materially misrepresented information to the Federal Aviation Administration
.
In 2001, Wolk won a $480 million verdict against Cessna
which drew criticism from the AVWeb.com website. In 2002, Wolk sued the website and four people who posted comments there. The website and comment submitters then settled the suit with a payment to charity and published apologies. This settlement in turn drew critical coverage from the Overlawyered
.com weblog. Ted Frank
then posted a criticism of Wolk on Overlawyered.com for his 2007 lawsuit against Teledyne. In 2009, Wolk sued Overlawyered editor Walter Olson
, Frank, and Overlawyered blogger David Nieporent, claiming that the blog libeled him. According to the complaint, Wolk did not discover the article until April 2009. In 2010, Judge Mary A. McLaughlin
of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania dismissed the lawsuit for failure to comply with the one-year statute of limitations
on the grounds that a blog
is mass media
and the statute of limitations runs from the date of publication. Wolk has appealed the court's decision.
On July 26, 2011, Wolk filed a new lawsuit against 42 defendants, including the defendants from his original libel suit, the lawyers who represented those defendants in the suit, The Reason Foundation
, "INTERNET BLOGGER '/b/'"
, and the Manhattan Institute, alleging over 20 causes of action. In the lawsuit, Wolk said that he had hired an organization to "place truthful, favorable information" about him on Wikipedia. Writing for Public Citizen
, Paul Levy criticized the lawsuit; Public Citizen's blog reports that Wolk has since filed suit against both Levy and Public Citizen. Wolk has also threatened to sue technology blog TechDirt over their reporting of the suit.
(ATP) certificate for multi-engine land and sea aircraft. Wolk owned a restored Grumman F9F Panther jet fighter that he has flown in air shows throughout the country; performing low level aerobatics and formation flights.
In November 1996, Wolk broke his arm and back when he crashed a Grumman Panther warplane, which burst into flames. He later sued the National Transportation Safety Board over its report of the crash. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court, also names Honeywell International Inc. and Allied Signal Inc. as defendants, claiming they gave false information to the NTSB to avoid liability. The suit says the NTSB report contained extensive errors, including a statement that Wolk was not qualified to fly the plane. The judge dismissed the case in 2002 for failure to state a claim, and Wolk unsuccessfully appealed to the U.S. Circuit Court for the Third Circuit. Wolk then sought Supreme Court review of the decision, but the Supreme Court refused to hear the case. Wolk represented himself in the lawsuit.
Aviation law
Aviation law is the branch of law that concerns flight, air travel, and associated legal and business concerns. Some of its area of concern overlaps that of admiralty law and in many cases, aviation law is considered a matter of international law due to the nature of air travel. However, the...
and air crash litigation for plaintiffs.
Wolk is also an author, editor and lecturer on aviation law and air safety with articles published by The Aviation Consumer, Aviation Safety and other publications and has appeared on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
Evening News, CBS Evening News
CBS Evening News
CBS Evening News is the flagship nightly television news program of the American television network CBS. The network has broadcast this program since 1948, and has used the CBS Evening News title since 1963....
, CNBC
CNBC
CNBC is a satellite and cable television business news channel in the U.S., owned and operated by NBCUniversal. The network and its international spinoffs cover business headlines and provide live coverage of financial markets. The combined reach of CNBC and its siblings is 390 million viewers...
, and CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
Larry King
Larry King
Lawrence Harvey "Larry" King is an American television and radio host whose work has been recognized with awards including two Peabodys and ten Cable ACE Awards....
Live.
Wolk is admitted to practice law in Pennsylvania.
He received his B.S. degree, cum laude, from Temple University
Temple University
Temple University is a comprehensive public research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Originally founded in 1884 by Dr. Russell Conwell, Temple University is among the nation's largest providers of professional education and prepares the largest body of professional...
in 1965, and his J.D. degree from Temple University School of Law in 1968.
Notable cases
Wolk reports that he represented victims in several major airline disasters. Some of the most notable air crash cases Wolk has had involvement in include:USAir 427, Aliquippa, PA., Pittsburgh, B-737. The flight crashed on September 8, 1994, killing everyone on board. Wolk speculated the cause of the crash was rudder failure and appeared the next day on ABC Evening News for Friday September 9, 1994 Peter Jennings
Peter Jennings
Peter Charles Archibald Ewart Jennings, CM was a Canadian American journalist and news anchor. He was the sole anchor of ABC's World News Tonight from 1983 until his death in 2005 of complications from lung cancer...
reporter, in this program Wolk offered views on the cause of the crash. Wolk published his opinion that rudder failure was the likely cause of USAir 427 crash in the Pennsylvania Law Weekly, October 10, 1994. On October 25 he appeared on CBS Evening News with Reporter Dan Rather
Dan Rather
Daniel Irvin "Dan" Rather, Jr. is an American journalist and the former news anchor for the CBS Evening News. He is now managing editor and anchor of the television news magazine Dan Rather Reports on the cable channel HDNet. Rather was anchor of the CBS Evening News for 24 years, from March 9,...
October 25, 1994, and offered comments about possible rudder failure. After the longest investigation in aviation history, more than four and a half years later, the National Transportation Safety Board
National Transportation Safety Board
The National Transportation Safety Board is an independent U.S. government investigative agency responsible for civil transportation accident investigation. In this role, the NTSB investigates and reports on aviation accidents and incidents, certain types of highway crashes, ship and marine...
concluded the probable cause was rudder failure. Wolk was the plaintiffs attorney in Hamley vs. The Boeing Corporation, the manufacturer of USAir's B-737 and won the case establishing that it was the rudder actuator that failed.
Other notable cases Wolk was involved in include: Comair 3272, Monroe, MI, (Detroit), EMB-120;
Swissair 111, Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia, MD-11; EgyptAir 990, near Nantucket, MA, Boeing 767
Boeing 767
The Boeing 767 is a mid-size, wide-body twin-engine jet airliner built by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. It was the manufacturer's first wide-body twinjet and its first airliner with a two-crew glass cockpit. The aircraft features two turbofan engines, a supercritical wing, and a conventional tail...
; and Alaska Air 261, Port Mugu, CA, MD-83. Although some of these cases resulted in multi-million dollar payments from the defendants, aviation lawyers generally charge about 23% of the amount as a contingency fee.
In 2010, Wolk won a $89 million jury award ($24.7 million in compensatory damages and $64 million in punitive damages) in Pridgen v. Avco Corp. The award was the largest out of Philadelphia Common Pleas Court in the previous five years. That case involved a 1999 airplane crash caused by a faulty carburetor. The defendants argued that lawsuit was barred by the General Aviation Revitalization Act of 1994, which bars claims against an aircraft or component manufacturer more than 18 years from when the product was made. However, Wolk argued that suit should go forward because the manufacturer willfully and materially misrepresented information to the Federal Aviation Administration
Federal Aviation Administration
The Federal Aviation Administration is the national aviation authority of the United States. An agency of the United States Department of Transportation, it has authority to regulate and oversee all aspects of civil aviation in the U.S...
.
In 2001, Wolk won a $480 million verdict against Cessna
which drew criticism from the AVWeb.com website. In 2002, Wolk sued the website and four people who posted comments there. The website and comment submitters then settled the suit with a payment to charity and published apologies. This settlement in turn drew critical coverage from the Overlawyered
Overlawyered
Overlawyered is a law blog on the subject of tort reform run by author Walter Olson. Founded in 1999, it is "widely considered to be the oldest legal blog and is also one of the most popular", according to Law.com....
.com weblog. Ted Frank
Ted Frank
Theodore H. Frank is an American lawyer, legal writer and blogger, based in Washington, D.C.. He is the founder and president of the Center for Class Action Fairness , established in 2009...
then posted a criticism of Wolk on Overlawyered.com for his 2007 lawsuit against Teledyne. In 2009, Wolk sued Overlawyered editor Walter Olson
Walter Olson
Walter K. Olson is an author and blogger who writes mostly about tort reform. Olson is a senior fellow of the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank in Washington DC. Formerly Olson was associated with the Manhattan Institute in New York City...
, Frank, and Overlawyered blogger David Nieporent, claiming that the blog libeled him. According to the complaint, Wolk did not discover the article until April 2009. In 2010, Judge Mary A. McLaughlin
Mary A. McLaughlin
Mary A. McLaughlin is a United States federal judge.Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, McLaughlin received a B.A. from Gwynedd-Mercy College in 1968, an M.A. from Bryn Mawr College in 1969, and a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1976. She was a law clerk, Hon. Stanley...
of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania dismissed the lawsuit for failure to comply with the one-year statute of limitations
Statute of limitations
A statute of limitations is an enactment in a common law legal system that sets the maximum time after an event that legal proceedings based on that event may be initiated...
on the grounds that a blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
is mass media
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
and the statute of limitations runs from the date of publication. Wolk has appealed the court's decision.
On July 26, 2011, Wolk filed a new lawsuit against 42 defendants, including the defendants from his original libel suit, the lawyers who represented those defendants in the suit, The Reason Foundation
Reason Foundation
The Reason Foundation is an American nonprofit think tank founded in 1978 that also publishes Reason magazine. Based in Los Angeles, Reason is self-described as nonpartisan and publishes a statement of values that can best be described as libertarian...
, "INTERNET BLOGGER '/b/'"
4chan
4chan is an English-language imageboard website. Launched on October 1, 2003, its boards were originally used for the posting of pictures and discussion of manga and anime...
, and the Manhattan Institute, alleging over 20 causes of action. In the lawsuit, Wolk said that he had hired an organization to "place truthful, favorable information" about him on Wikipedia. Writing for Public Citizen
Public Citizen
Public Citizen is a non-profit, consumer rights advocacy group based in Washington, D.C., United States, with a branch in Austin, Texas. Public Citizen was founded by Ralph Nader in 1971, headed for 26 years by Joan Claybrook, and is now headed by Robert Weissman.-Lobbying Efforts:Public Citizen...
, Paul Levy criticized the lawsuit; Public Citizen's blog reports that Wolk has since filed suit against both Levy and Public Citizen. Wolk has also threatened to sue technology blog TechDirt over their reporting of the suit.
Personal aviation experience
Wolk has been a pilot for more than 30 years and holds an Airline Transport Pilot LicenseAirline Transport Pilot License
The Airline Transport Pilot License , or in the United States of America, an Airline Transport Pilot Certificate is the highest level of aircraft pilot rating -- or license...
(ATP) certificate for multi-engine land and sea aircraft. Wolk owned a restored Grumman F9F Panther jet fighter that he has flown in air shows throughout the country; performing low level aerobatics and formation flights.
In November 1996, Wolk broke his arm and back when he crashed a Grumman Panther warplane, which burst into flames. He later sued the National Transportation Safety Board over its report of the crash. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court, also names Honeywell International Inc. and Allied Signal Inc. as defendants, claiming they gave false information to the NTSB to avoid liability. The suit says the NTSB report contained extensive errors, including a statement that Wolk was not qualified to fly the plane. The judge dismissed the case in 2002 for failure to state a claim, and Wolk unsuccessfully appealed to the U.S. Circuit Court for the Third Circuit. Wolk then sought Supreme Court review of the decision, but the Supreme Court refused to hear the case. Wolk represented himself in the lawsuit.