• 619.255.2398 · 866.512.2465

Brian J. Lawler (Founder & Shareholder)

Since being admitted to the Bar in December 2002, Mr. Lawler has litigated numerous domestic and international aviation cases including mass commercial aircraft disasters, general aviation accidents and military mishaps, both helicopter and fixed wing. He now concentrates his practice in representing military Reservists/Guardsmen in employment disputes with their civilian employers for violations of USERRA.

Mr. Lawler received a B.A. in Political Science from Tulane University in 1990 and graduated from the University of San Diego School of Law in 2002. Before and while attending law school, Mr. Lawler served on active duty in the United States Marine Corps as a Weapons and Sensors Officer in the F/A-18D Hornet, including one tour as an instructor in the Hornet. He also served as a Forward Air Controller with an infantry battalion and deployed to the Persian Gulf during 1997-1998 in support of Operation Southern Watch.

From 2001 until he retired in 2018, Mr. Lawler was active in the Marine Corps Reserve where he held the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He was mobilized in support of the Global War on Terror in 2003 and again mobilized and deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom from November 2010 through May 2011. Mr. Lawler was hand-selected to conduct six military aircraft accident investigations, including four as the senior investigator of multi-fatality accidents that claimed a total of 31 lives, most recently the USMC KC-130 mishap in July 2017 near Greenwood, Mississippi. Mr. Lawler is also a private pilot with over 2,000 hours of combined military and civilian flight time and is still active as a contract simulator instructor in the F/A-18 simulators at MCAS Miramar, CA.

Mr. Lawler is admitted to the State Bar of California, United States District Court, Southern, Northern and Central Districts of California, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court. He is also a member of several professional organizations including the American Association for Justice, American Bar Association, and Lawyer Pilot Bar Association.

If you are in need of legal representation for an aviation matter, please contact our office.

Brian J. Lawler
Pilot Law, P.C.
619.255.2398

850 Beech Street, Suite 713
San Diego, CA 92101