Gary Garofalo retired from Garofalo Goerlich Hainbach PC (GGH) in 2021 after 56 years of practicing law. During his more than five and half decades in the industry, he became a legend in the field of aviation regulatory and commercial transactions law.
Gary began his aviation law career in 1965 with the Federal Aviation Administration. During his three-year tenure with the FAA, Gary was exposed to all legal matters handled by the respective FAA offices, including FAA licensing requirements, enforcement cases against pilots and airlines, development of airworthiness directives, and interpretation of, and exemption from, FAA rules and regulations.
In April 1968, he entered private practice and eventually became a founding member of GGH. Over the years, he represented U.S. and foreign airlines, air taxis and commuters, major tour operators and travel agents, FBOs and FAA-licensed repair stations, airframe and parts manufacturers, and other aircraft owners and operators, including private individuals and corporate flight departments. In the aircraft transactional area, Gary represented buyers, sellers, lessees and lessors of transport category and corporate aircraft.
Gary served on the FAA fractional ownership rulemaking committee, which resulted in recommendations that lead to the fractional ownership regulations found in Part 91, Subpart K. He also served on the steering committee for the FAA Part 125/135 aviation rulemaking committee.
Gary delivered numerous papers at conferences sponsored by the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA), Canadian Business Aircraft Association, European Business Aviation Association, Asian Business Aviation Association, American Bar Association (ABA), Federal Bar Association and Strategic Research Institute. He also published articles on FAA and DOT regulatory issues.
For many years, Gary actively participated on NBAA’s Tax Committee and served as chairman of that committee for two years. He also served for two years as chairman of NBAA’s Operational Excellence Strategic Focus Team, which coordinates efforts of NBAA’s Tax Committee, Domestic Operations Committee and International Operations Committee. He is a past chairman of the Air and Space Law Section of the Federal Bar Association’s Transportation Committee, a founding member of the National Transportation Safety Board Bar Association, and a former member of the ABA’s Forum on Air and Space Law.
Gary earned a B.S. in Aeronautical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York in 1962. In 1965, he received an LL.B from the University of Virginia School of Law. Gary was admitted to the Bars of the District of Columbia and the State of Connecticut. He is a licensed private pilot.