Kearney, Gary W.

James S. "Jim" Strawinski started the law firm of Strawinski & Stout, P.C. as a litigation firm servicing the insurance industry, the transportation industry and retailers. He concentrates his practice on representing aviation clients, trucking clients and retailers in the defense of wrongful death and serious personal injury claims and insurance related matters. Mr. Strawinski graduated from Duke University in 1971 with a bachelor's degree in English. Following college, he served in the United States Air Force and the United States Air Force Reserve until 1985. His service included flying combat missions in Vietnam. He achieved the rank of Major and became a command pilot before leaving Air Force duty. Mr. Strawinski obtained an M.B.A. degree in 1975 from Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville, and obtained his J.D. degree from Emory University in 1979. Since 1979, he has practiced in various areas of aviation law, including the defense of airlines, airports, aircraft product manufacturers, fixed base operations, and crop dusters. His practice includes the handling of certificate actions and civil penalty actions by the FAA against airmen. He regularly handles trucking cases involving liability issues and cargo issues, as well as premises liability cases for various retailers.

Mr. Strawinski is a member of the Atlanta Bar Association, the Lawyer-Pilots Bar Association, the Aviation Insurance Association, the State Bar of Georgia, the NTSB Bar Association and the Lawyers Club of Atlanta. He was Chairman of the Aviation Section of the State Bar of Georgia in 1987 and 1994. He is currently an IFR rated civilian pilot and serves as an adjunct faculty member on the Emory University School of Law Trial Advocacy Program. In 1994, he presented a paper entitled Crash Scene Investigations at the Aviation Law Symposium conducted jointly by the State Bar of Georgia, Aviation Law Section, and the Institute of Continuing Legal Education in Georgia. Other publications include Pre-Impact Pain and Suffering published in the Georgia State Bar Journal, Volume 26, No. 2, November 1989 and the aviation chapter contained in Georgia Jurisprudence, Personal Injury and Torts 29, Aviation Accidents. He has been a keynote speaker at several industry related events, including a presentation entitled: Use of Surveillance Techniques in Discovery Practice presented at the 19th Annual Insurance Law Institute, Institute of Continuing Legal Education in Georgia, September 2000. The same presentation was also given to the Atlanta Claims Association at its Workers Compensation Seminar in February 2003. He presented a paper entitled Where is the ACAA Today? which traced the law developing from the Air Carrier Access Act of 1986, at the 36th Annual Air Law Symposium presented by the Southern Methodist School of Law, in Dallas, Texas in February 2002. In February 2003 he presented a paper entitled: Considerations When Litigating With the FAA at the 2003 Aviation Law Symposium conducted jointly by the State Bar of Georgia, Aviation Law Section, and the Institute of Continuing Legal Education in Georgia.  Mr. Strawinski served as a Judge at the 2009 William W. Daniel National Invitational Mock Trial Competition. In May 2012 he made a presentation at the Retail and Hospitality Litigation and Claims Management Seminar in Chicago under the auspices of the Defense Research Institute.  The presentation was titled “Spoliation of In-Store Surveillance Video.”