UAV / Drone Practice Groups
Popping up Across the Country!
While Amazon.com, Inc., based in Seattle WA is working to develop “Prime Air”, the FAA and other groups battle over the use of Drones. Prime Air’s goal is to deliver products to Amazon’s customers within 30 minutes of the product being ordered. Meanwhile, the Federal Aviation Administration is not expected to establish rules for commercial drone use until late 2015.
Drone use is still currently a free-for-all. On June 21, 2014, a photographer attempted to capture a video of a congressman’s wedding. In April of this year, a drone was used in South Carolina to make an attempted delivery of marijuana, tobacco and cell phones to a prison. Meanwhile in Philadelphia Pennsylvania, a marketing entrepreneur intends on dragging advertising banners from low flying drones over populated areas. Television stations are also exploring the use of drones instead of expensive helicopters to capture video.
As the market for drones heats up, law firms are jumping on the bandwagon hoping to capitalize on the drone market for civilian use. The firms are going to be ready to help fly their clients through the maze of laws expected to come from the government and help their clients comply with these new laws.
Williams Mullen, a law firm based in Richmond VA has 14 attorneys listed on their website’s “Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS)” group.
The Richmond-based LeClairRyan firm has an “Unmanned Aircraft Systems” practice group. LeClairRyan lists eight members in its group.
Husch Blackwell, a 600 attorney law firm, boasts 17attorneys in their “Unmanned Aircraft Systems” group.
It seems most of these firms are working on the civil side of the drone legal market. As time passes and law enforcement gain a footing in the use of drones, it is clear we will see firms specialize in the criminal side of drone use.
