Roderick D. Margo joined Condon & Forsyth LLP in 1980 and is a partner of the firm. Rod advises and represents airlines and their insurers in connection with the litigation and resolution of aviation claims and commercial disputes. He also acts for airlines in the negotiation and documentation of commercial transactions, including aircraft leases and financing arrangements. Rod also is involved in aviation regulatory and aeropolitical matters, aviation risk management, aviation insurance, competition and antitrust, environmental law, and labor and employment.

Recent assignments include acting as lead counsel to several IATA carriers in environmental litigation concerning the application of Proposition 65, the California Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986; representing a number of air carriers in connection with litigation over claims for deep vein thrombosis (DVT), including acting for the prevailing carriers in Rodriguez v. Ansett Australia Ltd, 383 F. 3d 914 (9th Cir. 2004) and Blotteaux v. Qantas Airways Limited, 2006 WL 47548 (9th Cir. 2006); acting as lead counsel to an Asian airline in U.S. litigation arising out of the crash of a B-747 in Taipei in October, 2000; representing air carriers in disputes with aircraft lessors over obligations under aircraft leases, including maintenance requirements and return conditions; acting for air carriers in connection with passenger claims involving injury on board aircraft, and in airport terminals; advising on the implications of the entry into force of the Cape Town Convention of 2001 and its aircraft equipment protocol; and advising air carriers on the implications of the entry into force of the Montreal Convention of 1999, including the amendment of conditions of carriage.

In addition to his legal practice, Rod is actively involved in alternative dispute resolution. He serves as a mediator for the Los Angeles Superior Court, and is a member of the aviation law panels of the International Mediation and Arbitration Center (IMAC) in Los Angeles, and ACI (A Commercial Initiative for Dispute Resolution) in London.

Rod taught aviation law at the UCLA School of Law from 1981 to 1998. He currently teaches international aviation law at IATA's Training & Development Institute in Montreal and Geneva and also serves as an adjunct professor of law at McGill University's Institute of Air & Space Law in Montreal.

Rod has published and lectured widely on legal issues affecting the airline and insurance industries. He is the author of Aviation Insurance (3rd ed., 2000 Butterworths, London), a co-editor of Shawcross & Beaumont on Air Law (4th ed. rev., 2007, Butterworths), a co-editor of Montreal Convention, published by Kluwer & Co in 2006, and the editor and co-author of The Liability Reporter, published jointly by IATA and Condon & Forsyth LLP (11th ed., 2008 ). He is a member of the board of advisors of Air & Space Law, published by Kluwer & Co., The Netherlands and serves on the board of editors of the Annals of Air & Space Law, published by the Institute of Air & Space Law.

Rod is a admitted to the Supreme Court of South Africa (1974), the Supreme Court of Georgia (1979), the Supreme Court of California (1981), the U.S. District Court for the Northern, Central, Southern and Eastern Districts of California (1981), the U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit (1985), the District of Columbia (1995), the Supreme Court of New South Wales, Australia (2004), and the U.S. Supreme Court (2005). He is a graduate of McGill University Canada (Doctor of Civil Laws, 1979) and the University of Witwatersrand School of Law, Johannesburg, South Africa (B.Com., 1970; L.L.B., cum laude, 1973). He is a commercial pilot and a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society.

Rod is listed in Asialaw's Leading Lawyers in Asia (2006-2007); Chambers USA America's Leading Lawyers for Business (2006-2007); Who's Who in the World (2005 - 2008); Who's Who in America (2005 - 2008); International Who's Who of Aviation Lawyers (2005 - 2007); Who's Who in American Law (2003-2008); "The Best of the Best," (Aviation Law) Euromoney Publications, (1999, 2003, 2005, 2007); Euromoney Guide to the World's Leading Aviation Lawyers (1999 - 2007); Euromoney Guide to the World's Leading Insurance and Reinsurance Lawyers (1999, 2000, 2004, 2006, 2007).

Recent Published Works and Presentations