Robert F. Ruckman

Representative Cases

• Serving as lead counsel for product defendant in litigation arising out of crash of Air France Flight 447
• Served as lead counsel for defendant airline in federal multi-district litigation and state court cases arising from crash of Flight 5966 near Kirksville, Missouri
• Defended aircraft engine manufacturer in case arising out of accident in Brazil and obtained defense verdict in Tarrant County, Texas
• Defended air show sponsor in jury trial in Houston arising from collision of Warbird aircraft during air show and obtained favorable verdict
• Defended bank in wrongful death case arising out of aircraft accident and obtained a favorable jury verdict in Hidalgo County, Texas
• Obtained defense verdict for airline in jury trial arising from major air carrier accident that occurred in San Juan, Puerto Rico

• Euromoney’s Aviation Expert Guide, 2017-2018
• The Best Lawyers in America (Woodward/White Inc.), 2007-2023
  • Lawyer of the Year – Dallas/Fort Worth, Transportation Law, 2018
  • Lawyer of the Year – Dallas/Fort Worth, Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants, 2016
  • Aviation Law, 2021-2023
  • Commercial Litigation, 2012-2023
  • Legal Malpractice Law – Defendants, 2012-2023
  • Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants, 2011-2023
  • Transportation Law, 2007-2023
• Who’s Who Legal: Texas
  • Aviation, 2018-2019
  • Transport, 2016
• Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, 2013-2019
  • Ranked for Transportation: Aviation: Litigation – Nationwide
• “Texas Super Lawyer,” Super Lawyers by Thomson Reuters, 2003-2005, 2007-2019
• Euromoney’s Litigation and Product Liability Expert Guide, 2016
• Best in Civil Litigation Defense, Super Lawyer’s Corporate Counsel Edition
• The International Who’s Who of Aviation Lawyers, 2014
• Guide to the World’s Leading Aviation Lawyers
• AV Preeminent Rating, Martindale-Hubbell

• Panel Moderator, “Mock Trials, A Global View: What’s New in Aviation and Space Law – Litigation in the U.S. and Abroad,” ABA Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section Aviation & Space Law Committee (October 2014)
• “Aviation Trends and Strategies,” Inside Minds: Strategies for Transportation Litigation and Dispute Resolution (December 2013)
• Panel Moderator, “Mock Settlement Negotiation, Trial Tactics and Skills for the Aviation Practitioner,” ABA Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Section Aviation & Space Law Committee (October 2012)
• “ER in the Skies: In-Flight Medical Emergencies,” 33rd Annual SMU Air Law Symposium, Dallas, Texas (February 1999)
• “In-Flight Medical Emergencies: An Update on the Aviation Medical Assistance At of 1998,” Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s 13th Annual Aviation Law/Insurance Symposium, Daytona Beach, Florida (January 2000)
• “ER in the Skies: In-Flight Medical Emergencies,” Vol. 65 Journal of Air Law and Commerce, Winter 1999
• “Use of Automated External Defibrillators by a U.S. Airline,” New England Journal of Medicine, October 26, 2000 (contributed legal content for the article)
• “Cardiac Arrest at 30,000 Feet,” Journal of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Anesthesia, June 2006, Vol. 20 No. 3 (Case conference / Co-author of section pertaining to liability for responding to in-flight emergencies)

• International Association of Defense Counsel
• Texas Association of Defense Counsel
• Defense Research Institute
• American Bar Association Forum Committee on Air and Space Law
• Aviation and Space Law Committee
• Tort and Insurance Practice Section of the American Bar Association
• Lawyer-Pilot’s Bar Association
• Texas Bar Association, Fellow
• Dallas Bar Association, Fellow
• College of the State Bar of Texas, Fellow
• Texas Bar Foundation, Sustaining Life Fellow
• Swiss Avenue Historic District, President