Aviation Lawyer Amna Arshad Returns to Crowell & Moring

Strengthens transportation practice and deepens regulatory bench

Washington – January 31, 2024: Former federal aviation regulator Amna Arshad has returned to Crowell & Moring as a partner in the firm’s Aviation and Transportation practices.

Arshad brings deep public and private sector experience advising transportation and aviation sector clients on the full range of domestic and international regulatory issues, including in the areas of compliance counseling, disputes and investigations defense, and commercial transactions. She is the former head of the U.S. Transportation & Aviation Regulatory Practice at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP, and a former Transportation Department senior trial attorney.

Arshad is the fifth lawyer over the past year to return to Crowell as a partner, and she is part of the firm’s strategic plan to grow key areas, including regulatory and transportation. Over the past three years, the firm has added more than 175 lawyers in United States, Europe, MENA, and Asia.

Arshad served as a lead investigator and attorney for cases involving violations of federal laws and regulations in her previous role as a senior trial attorney for DOT’s Office of Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings. She has represented major U.S. and foreign airlines and aerospace entities and has worked with emerging technologies throughout the transportation sector, including drones, electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL), and autonomous vehicles. Arshad helps clients navigate the full range of regulatory issues before agencies, including DOT and Federal Aviation Administration, as well as high-stakes matters involving compliance counseling, enforcement, transactions, and civil litigation. 

“Amna brings aviation clients deep regulatory experience and industry insight that come from operating at the forefront of the most high-profile issues impacting the sector,” said Rebecca Chaney, co-chair of the firm’s Transportation Practice. “Amna has addressed the most vexing aviation matters through both the government and the private lens, so she brings the broadest perspective to client engagements. She will help clients expand their global portfolio and lead in the transportation revolution of our times.”

Arshad was shortlisted as an “Aviation Lawyer of the Year” by Women in Business Law and is recognized for her work by Chambers USA. She was also named a “Transportation Rising Star” by Law360 and a “Rising Star in Aviation” by Euromoney. Arshad also serves as a Member of the Advisory Board at the Hague Court of Arbitration for Aviation. Arshad’s passion to advance diversity is a hallmark of her leadership. She is a member of the governing committee and chair of the diversity, equity, and inclusion committee for the ABA Air & Space Law Forum; the vice president of the International Aviation Club of Washington, DC; and a member of the International Aviation Womens Association.

“I am thrilled to return to Crowell to a team that I know and trust to serve my clients well as we help them navigate remarkable changes in aviation. Our team understands industry and how the regulatory, transactional, and litigation teams must work together to solve our clients’ toughest challenges,” Arshad said.

Crowell’s Transportation practitioners have spent more than four decades helping clients navigate regulatory, litigation, policy and transactional  landscapes. The firm’s Transportation Practice was named “Practice Group of the Year” by Law360 and serves clients across all transportation sectors, including automotive, aviation, electric vehicle, rail, aerospace, and more.

Arshad earned her law degree from American University, Washington College of Law, and her bachelor’s degree from The George Washington University. She has served on the Legal Advisory Committee of the Capital Area Immigrants’ Rights Coalition as well as the board of The Columbian Women of The George Washington University. Arshad will reside in the Washington, DC office.

About Crowell & Moring LLP

Crowell & Moring is an international law firm with operations in the United States, Europe, MENA, and Asia. Drawing on significant government, business, industry and legal experience, the firm helps clients capitalize on opportunities and provides creative solutions to complex litigation and arbitration, regulatory and policy, and corporate and transactional issues. The firm is consistently recognized for its commitment to pro bono service, as well as its programs and initiatives to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion.  

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