Sean Gates,ERA
Sean Gates, ERA
Gates was appointed legal counsel of ERA with effect from 1 January 2014. He has specialised in aviation law throughout his career and has been involved in the responses to more than 50 international aviation disasters. From 1998-2013, he was legal adviser to the International Union of Aviation Insurers (IUAI), a trade association of the world’s leading aviation insurers. He represented the IUAI at the diplomatic conference resulting in the Montreal Convention of 1999 on carrier liability to passengers, at the diplomatic conference in Montreal for the Conventions on Surface Damage and at the legal committee meeting in 2013 discussing changes to the Tokyo Convention on Offences Committed on Board Aircraft 1963.
Gates is CEO of Gates Aviation which has a group of aviation experts including lawyers, pilots, engineers and risk managers which provides dispute resolution, risk management, and disaster preparedness/response support to the aviation industry. He is also Senior Vice President of Legal Affairs at Kenyon International Emergency Services. Recent projects include arbitrating an aircraft lease finance dispute, reviewing and advising on disaster management plans of a Chinese manufacturer and a European airline, advising a European insurer on insurance coverage, and creating and modelling a business continuity plan for a European airline group.