Roy Goldberg

Mr. Goldberg is a partner in the Business Trial Practice Group in the firm's Washington, D.C. office and heads the firm's aviation group.

Areas of Practice 

Mr. Goldberg concentrates his practice on complex commercial and regulatory litigation. He represents companies and other organizations that are challenging the actions by local, state or national government agencies, or are involved in commercial business disputes. In addition to general civil litigation, he has particular experience in matters involving the airline industry, and is the head of the firm's aviation group. 

Education

• J.D., University of Colorado, 1987
• B.A., University of Kansas, 1984

Clerkships

• Law Clerk to The Honorable Jim R. Carrigan, U.S. District Court for District of Colorado

Admissions

• D.C.
• Maryland
• Colorado
• U.S. District Court for District of Columbia
• U.S. District Court for District of Maryland
• U.S. Supreme Court
• U.S. Court of Federal Claims
• U.S. Court of Appeals for D.C. Circuit
• U.S. Court of International Trade

Aviation Matters

Mr. Goldberg represents airlines on a wide range of issues with particular emphasis on administrative and judicial challenges to fees imposed on airlines.

In 2007, Mr. Goldberg served as lead trial counsel for seven U.S. airlines challenging millions of dollars in new airport terminal charges at Los Angeles International Airport. Following a month long trial the U.S. Department of Transportation, on June 15, 2007, ruled that the new charges unjustly discriminated against the air carriers and ordered the airport to refund all of the unlawful fees. The ruling sets important legal precedent, provides critical protections to air carriers against unjust discrimination by airports, and should result in more than 100 million dollars in refunds and cost savings to the airlines.

In 2003, Mr. Goldberg successfully argued a case on behalf of a coalition of international airlines that challenged air traffic control user fees imposed on "overflights" by the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration. Air Transport Association of Canada v. FAA, 323 F.3d 1093 (D.C. Cir. April 8, 2003). The outcome of that case and related litigation resulted in refunds of several millions of dollars plus cost savings in the hundreds of millions of dollars for the international aviation community. Mr. Goldberg played an important role in successfully challenging the same type of user fees in 1998. Asiana Airlines v. FAA, 134 F.3d 393 (D.C. Cir. 1998). He currently participates in the FAA's Aviation Rulemaking Committee which grew out of the overflight fee litigation.

Mr. Goldberg currently represents airlines challenging hundreds of millions of dollars in increased security screening fees imposed by the U.S. Transportation Security Administration. He also helped represent an airline challenging passenger facility charges imposed by the airports in Minneapolis-St. Paul and Memphis. Northwest Airlines, Inc. v. FAA, 14 F.3d 64 (D.C. Cir. 1994.) In addition, Mr. Goldberg counsels airlines an a wide variety of matters impacting carriers, including trademark and patent issues, and various FAA and DOT regulations and programs.

Successful Outcomes for Clients in 2006

In December a team led by Mr. Goldberg obtained a ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirming the summary judgment entered the prior year on behalf of a major seller of telecommunications equipment against a former salesperson seeking $12 million in additional sales commissions.

In the spring Mr. Goldberg and a fellow partner were successful in obtaining the dismissal of a patent infringement suit against a major international airline, without having the airline pay a single dollar in damages, and with most of the legal fees paid by a third party under an indemnification agreement. They obtained dismissal of a similar patent infringement lawsuit against the same airline the previous year.

In January Mr. Goldberg led a trial team that obtained a jury verdict finding that the defendant managing general partners of a limited partnership had breached the fiduciary duties owed to the firm's client.

In March Mr. Goldberg successfully defended a summary judgment obtained on behalf of a major financial services company in an appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit filed by a borrower who claimed that the financial services company had engaged in a fraud on the court.

Other Cases

Mr. Goldberg is currently representing one of the largest landowners in eminent domain litigation following the "taking" of the property by the District of Columbia for construction of the new Washington Nationals Baseball stadium.

In 2005, Mr. Goldberg led a team that obtained summary judgment in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia on behalf of a large telecommunications equipment company which had been sued for over $12 million for alleged breach of a sales compensation plan.

In 2004, Mr. Goldberg obtained a favorable arbitration award from a three-member panel of the American Arbitration Association in Cherry Hill, New Jersey in favor of an environmental services remediation company.

In 1998, Mr. Goldberg obtained a favorable arbitration award from a three-member panel of the International Chamber of Commerce following a week-long commercial arbitration in London, England.

Mr. Goldberg has handled successful government bid protests for an international freight forwarder, a court reporting agency and a seller of medical equipment.

Mr. Goldberg also has prevailed in antidumping duty investigations on behalf of clients in the office supply and industrial metal industries.

Articles

• DOT Finds Unjust Discrimination in Terminal Rents at LAX, The Transportation Antitrust Update, December 6, 2007
• A Tale of Two Airports, CCH Issues in Aviation Law and Policy ¶ 20,431, October 31, 2007
• Airline Challenges to Airport Abuses of Economic Power, 72 Journal of Air Law and Commerce 351, May 31, 2007
• How Much Is Land Worth In Baseball's Domain?, March 5, 2007
• Parry the Arbitrary, April 27, 2005
• Sheppard Mullin Antitrust Review, Vol. 2, No. 2, February 10, 2004
• Sheppard Mullin Antitrust Review, Vol. 2, No. 1, January 9, 2004
• Sheppard Mullin Antitrust Review, Vol. 1, No. 6, December 5, 2003
• adbriefs - Fall 2003, November 17, 2003
• Sheppard Mullin Antitrust Review, Vol. 1, No. 3, September 8, 2003
• Sheppard Mullin Antitrust Review, Vol. 1, No. 2, August 6, 2003

"Will it Happen Again? -- FAA's Disastrous Prior Experience with User Fees." Journal of Air Law and Commerce, Spring 2006

"A Safety Net for the Internet", Lead Author

"What To Do When Local Governments Unfairly Block Development Projects," Legal Times, April, 2005

"Intellectual Property Issues Arising with B2B Exchanges", Chapter in Aspen Treatise, 2002

"When Unimportant Is Interesting: The Negligible Import Exception to Cumulation in Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Investigations", 25 Geo. Wash. J. Int'l L. & Econ. 721, 721-36, 1992

"The First Thing We Do a/k/a Shakespeare and the Law (of Government Contracts)", The Clause, Board of Contract Appeals Bar Association, Spring 2002

Speeches

• "Airline Challenges to Airport Abuses of Economic Power," 2007 International Air Transport Association Legal Symposium, Istanbul, Turkey, 2007
• "ATC and Airport Privatisation" (Breakout Session), The Airline Industry's Next 100 Years: New Destination With New Maps – International Air Transport Association Legal Symposium, Singapore, February 2003
• "How Airlines Can Protect Themselves Against Cyber-Attacks", Legal Advisory Council of the International Air Transport Association, Montreal, September 2001

Events

• IATA Legal Symposium 2008, February 10, 2008
• American Bar Association Forum on Air & Space Law’s 2008 Washington Update Conference, January 31, 2008
• ABA Forum on Air & Space Law, October 4, 2007, 2007 Annual Meeting and Conference