Profile: Sheila A Sundvall

Aviation

Biography: Aviation

Sheila Sundvall is a partner with Sidley Austin LLP in Chicago, where she has worked since 1989. She has a general civil litigation practice, with an emphasis on aviation litigation. She has represented commercial airlines, manufacturers, and other defendants in personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits arising out of the following major airline accidents: United Airlines flight 232 in Sioux City, Iowa; American Eagle flight 4184 in Roselawn, Indiana; American Eagle flight 3379 in Morrisville, North Carolina; American Airlines flight 965 in Cali, Colombia; Garuda Indonesia flight 421 in Indonesia; and Lion Air flight 538 in Indonesia. She has also represented aircraft owners and other defendants in litigation stemming from several highly publicised general aviation accidents, including the 1994 Nevada helicopter crash involving the former president of Disney and the 2001 Cessna crash in the Bahamas involving the R&B artist Aaliyah. She provides counselling to a variety of clients with respect to tort liability exposure, insurance, warranty and indemnity issues, and other matters related to aviation and tort law.

Ms Sundvall received her BA summa cum laude in 1985 from the University of Michigan, where she was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. She also attended the University of Michigan Law School, where she received her Juris Doctor degree magna cum laude in 1988 and was a member of the Order of the Coif. In 1988-89, she clerked for the Honorable Richard Cudahy, in the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

Ms Sundvall is a frequent speaker at various aviation conferences, and served as co-chair of the ABA aviation litigation committee in 2002-2005, and currently serves as co-chair of the multidistrict litigation sub-committee. She is also a member of the International Aviation Women's Association.