It’s not a matter of if, but when. Of course, I’m talking about a sky speckled with commercial drones, bringing us our precious products and pharmaceuticals, or performing work in high places humans find dangerous, like inspecting bridges and buildings, monitoring crops and livestock, and keeping an eye on pipelines and oil rigs.
What must companies know about deploying a drone fleet? What industries are leading the way? What are the potential legal liabilities? How does one begin to navigate the regulatory labyrinth? If one is flying over my swimming pool taking photos, may I shoot it down? And who in their right minds would ever allow a teenage boy to operate one?
Joining me to discuss this emerging area of law is Kathryn M. Rattigan,
a member of the Business Litigation Group, the Data Privacy +
Cybersecurity Team, and the Drone Compliance Team in the Rhode Island
office of Robinson Cole.
Kathryn advises clients on these matters with expertise in the relevant
Federal Aviation Administration regulations. She and her colleagues
also advise clients on employee and subcontractor contracts, insurance
policies, privacy regulations, state and local laws, and best practices
as recommended by the National Telecommunications and Information
Administration. She handles product defect, personal injury, and
property damage litigation, too. Kathryn is a frequent contributor to
the excellent Robinson Cole Data Privacy + Cybersecurity Insider blog. She holds a J.D. from the Roger Williams University School of Law and a B.A. (magna cum laude) from Stonehill College.
This podcast is the audio companion to the Journal on Emerging Issues in Litigation, a collaborative project between HB Litigation Conferences and the Fastcase legal research family, which includes Full Court Press, Law Street Media,
Docket Alarm and, most recently, Judicata. If you have comments or wish
to participate in one our projects, or want to tell me how insightful
and informative Kathryn is, please drop me a note at Editor@LitigationConferences.com. This podcast is based on an article she wrote for the forthcoming issues of the Journal.
Just
to clarify. Kathryn does own a drone, but not a “sheep drone.” I regret
the error, but wouldn’t have it any other way. Thanks to Kathryn for
speaking with me about this fascinating area of the law.
Tom Hagy
