For more than 40 years, William (Bill) Blakely has guided parties through the process of recovering from disasters, particularly in the aviation industry. First as a Safety Officer and as a reconnaissance jet pilot in the Marine Corps, he learned early-on the deadly consequences of inattention to detail. In the years that followed active duty as a Marine Flight Officer, Bill joined the US Department of Justice through its Honors program, and practiced in the Civil Division, Torts Branch, Aviation Unit. He was one of fourteen trial lawyers who defended the United States and its Agencies (FAA, NASA, Military Pilots, National Weather Service, etc.) in nearly every aviation disaster, world-wide.
At the conclusion of this service at DOJ, he moved to private practice and for the next 35 years counseled clients on how to avoid and deal with the complications and consequences of air disasters. Many of his cases have involved high-profile matters that have been the subject of international as well as national, news coverage. He has served as lead trial lawyer in more than forty aviation matters.


For more than 40 years, William (Bill) Blakely has guided parties through the process of recovering from disasters, particularly in the aviation industry. First as a Safety Officer and as a reconnaissance jet pilot in the Marine Corps, he learned early-on the deadly consequences of inattention to detail. In the years that followed active duty as a Marine Flight Officer, Bill joined the US Department of Justice through its Honors program, and practiced in the Civil Division, Torts Branch, Aviation Unit. He was one of fourteen trial lawyers who defended the United States and its Agencies (FAA, NASA, Military Pilots, National Weather Service, etc.) in nearly every aviation disaster, world-wide.
At the conclusion of this service at DOJ, he moved to private practice and for the next 35 years counseled clients on how to avoid and deal with the complications and consequences of air disasters. Many of his cases have involved high-profile matters that have been the subject of international as well as national, news coverage. He has served as lead trial lawyer in more than forty aviation matters.

Currently, Bill serves as the outside General Counsel of the Corporate Council on Africa (CCA), a not-for-profit organized to provide educational and charitable services to the continent. His work with the CCA follows more than eighteen years serving as private, outside General Counsel to a large religious organization. The issues involved litigation in 26 states, corporate governance, alleged election fraud and challenges that involved constitutional rights under the First Amendment.
Bill has practiced in Washington, D.C. for more than 35 years, and counseled both defendants and plaintiffs in state and federal court actions, as well as arbitration tribunals on matters involving construction contracts litigation. He represented a major railroad in matters involving the construction of facilities and track work, and several municipalities where the construction costs of wastewater were at issue. He has recovered multi-million judgments and has prevailed in “bet-the-company” litigation where the alleged damages exceeded $500 million.


Bill has practiced in Washington, D.C. for more than 35 years, and counseled both defendants and plaintiffs in state and federal court actions, as well as arbitration tribunals on matters involving construction contracts litigation. He represented a major railroad in matters involving the construction of facilities and track work, and several municipalities where the construction costs of wastewater were at issue. He has recovered multi-million judgments and has prevailed in “bet-the-company” litigation where the alleged damages exceeded $500 million.

For more than nineteen years he has served the Service Community as a Marine Corps Judge Advocate, performing legal services for military families as well as individual servicemen and servicewomen. In total, Bill has more than twenty-five years of service and retired as a Lieutenant colonel, USMCR
His military career commenced after college graduation when he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the US Marine Corps, and attended the Marine Corps’ infantry training school (Basic School) in Quantico, Virginia. Weeks before graduating from Basic School, he was selected for an inter-service transfer to the US Air Force for flight school. After twelve months of flight training, he earned US Air Force wings, and then entered a second flight training program where he earned his Navy wings.
Bill was assigned to an RF-4 reconnaissance squadron in California, and later in Japan. He is a graduate of the US Navy Maintenance Officer’s school, and while in Japan, was the Headquarters’ Aviation Safety Officer. Bill was released from active duty after more than six years of service. Following law school, he attended the U.S. Naval Justice School, and was certified as a Judge Advocate. The combined experience of flight operations and Naval Justice School enabled him to assist effectively, Veterans and their families in various situations that arise with the stresses of military life.