CHANCELLERY TEAM

DOERNER & PARTNER mbB
Office for Aviation Law

The law firm air-law.de, based at the special airport Oberpfaffenhofen, was founded by Frank Dörner in 2014. His many years of activity and experience in aviation law and as an aviation expert as well as his great passion for aviation have enabled Frank Dörner to successfully position himself as a specialist in aviation law.

With his regular publications in the trade press, his work in various aviation associations and his teaching activities, he has also made a name for himself as an expert in the aviation industry beyond pure legal matters.

In March 2021, attorney Kai-Alexander Bischoff joined the air-law team as an additional partner. He has also been advising clients in the aviation sector for many years and, as an in-house lawyer, was responsible for the support and management of the company’s business jets and helicopters for various groups of companies. In order to continue to meet the steadily growing demand and need for high-quality consulting, the team grew even further in the course of 2021 and moved into new offices at the special airport in Oberpfaffenhofen.

We not only offer you very good local accessibility, but with the larger team we also have more than 20 years of experience in aviation.

Our clients include airlines, operators, flight schools, development, manufacturing and maintenance companies as well as associations and clubs.

Our professional expertise, as well as our shared passion for aviation, not only allows the law firm team to connect internally on several levels, but we also cultivate a more personal relationship with our clients. Since aviation and aviation law often cross borders, we have put together a team from different areas that has mastered the topics of classic aviation, brings knowledge directly from companies, can present judicial experience and takes business aspects into account. With our close cooperation with tax law, labor law and insurance law experts, we can advise you efficiently and quickly across the board.

Your individual needs and interests are our focus and we regard every inquiry as a new and exciting challenge.

© Michael Aust

Frank Dörner

Lawyer
Specialist lawyer for administrative law
Aviation Expert

Frank Dörner is the founding father and partner of our law firm Dörner & Partner and has been active in the aviation world since his youth. Frank Dörner built up his very wide-ranging knowledge at various levels not only through his many years of legal advice to clients in aviation law, but also through his activities as a lecturer, author, aviation expert and flight instructor.

As a result, he is a regular participant in various panel discussions and was invited by the German Bundestag in 2020 to comment and assess the situation based on his practical experience with the Aviation Security Act.

Qualifications and professional positions

as of 2020

Lecturer at aero-expert.de GmbH

2020

Invited and heard by the German Bundestag as an expert within the framework of the legislative process

Speaker and participant as expert in panel discussions at industry-renowned events, such as aviation trade shows (Aero Friedrichshafen, European Aviation and Flightschool Congress)

2015-2017

Lecturer in aviation law at the technical school in Augsburg

2014

Partner and founder of the law firm air-law.de with more than 20 years of experience in aviation law

2013-2019

Lecturer for aviation law at the Aero-Academy GmbH

Regular publications on aviation law in the aviation journal aerokurier, Fliegermagazin, Adler, Luftsport, Flügel, General Aviation News, etc.

as of 2014

publicly appointed and sworn aviation expert, IHK Munich

as of 2012

Aviation expert (certified by VdL eV)

as of 2006

Legal advisor to the Bavarian Air Sports Association

2006-2014

Partner at the law firm Heinrich & Dörner, Munich

2000-2006

Lawyer in the law firm Meidert & Colleagues, Augsburg and Munich

Legal studies at the University of Augsburg

Aviation Qualifications

1986 glider license, 1996 glider instructor

1990 motor glider license, 1998 motor glider instructor

1994 microlight license, 2002 microlight instructor

2000 powered flight license, 2003 powered flight instructor

Kai_Bischoff© Michael Aust

Kai Alexander bishop

Lawyer
LL.M.EUR.

Kai-Alexander Bischoff joined Frank Dörner in 2021 as an additional partner. As a Magistrand at Deutsche Lufthansa AG, he was already involved in the group’s key areas of aviation law and, as Legal Counsel to Knorr- Bremse AG, was responsible for the company’s business jets, among other things.

Kai-Alexander Bischoff was also responsible for the company’s aviation activities for the Brose Group and was able to make professional use of his personal passion for aviation. In addition, he brings with him many years of experience in the automotive and rail sectors, which further expanded the expertise of the law firm.

Qualifications and professional positions

2017-2021

Deputy General Counsel of the Brose Group with responsibility
for advising and supporting the Group’s aviation activities

2011-2017

Head of the Service Line Contract and Claim Management of the corporate legal department of Knorr- Bremse AG

2008-2010

Head of Legal and Insurance at Knorr- Bremse GmbH, Mödling/Austria with responsibility for the CEE countries

2009

Specialist course for commercial and corporate law

2005-2017

Responsible (on the owner side) for the business jets of the Knorr- Bremse Group

2004-2008

Partner at the law firm Dr. Brenninger & Bischoff, Regensburg/Munich

2003

Magistrand at Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Frankfurt/Main, in the area of corporate politics

Master’s degree: “European and International Law” (LL.M. EUR.) at the University of Bremen

2002

Admission as a lawyer in Bremen
Legal clerkship in Augsburg with optional internship at the German-Danish Chamber of Commerce in Copenhagen Law studies at the University of Regensburg and Oslo, Norway

Aviation Qualifications

2019

powered flight license

© Michael Aust

Monica
tower

Attorney, Pres. judge

at the Hessian Administrative Court a. D.

After Mrs. Monika Thürmer had completed her active service at the Hessian Administrative Court, she decided to make her many years of experience available to our law firm after her admission as a lawyer from January 2022. With Ms. Thürmer, we can offer our clients excellent first-hand advice in all procedural and administrative court matters.

Ms. Thürmer was able to gain far-reaching insight on very different fronts, not only specifically through her proceedings as presiding judge for aviation law of the 9th Senate and the disciplinary senates, but also through her activities. Before working in the Senate for Aviation Law, she was a member of the board of the Mainz Finthen Aviation Association and the Rhineland-Palatinate Air Sports Association. She speaks as an aviation expert at various events and, like the entire Air Law team, she regularly takes to the skies and enjoys flying to the fullest.

Qualifications and professional positions

since Dec 2021

Attorney at Law

since Dec 2021

Presiding Judge at the Hessian Administrative Court a. D.

since May 2012

Co-editor and co-author of the Beck online commentary on Hessian higher education law

2012-2021

Presiding Judge at the Hessian Administrative Court

2020-2021 Chair of the 2nd Senate, which is responsible, among other things, for road and path law, railroad law and mining law

2015-2021 Chair of the Federal and State Disciplinary Tribunals

dec 2012-2020 Chair of the 9th Senate, responsible inter alia for aviation law.

2008-2013

Presidential Advisor for organizational matters and IT

2000-2005

Member of the board of directors of Luftfahrtverein Mainz e. V. (Mainz-Finthen airfield) and 2002-2005 in the
Air Sports Association Rhineland-Palatinate e. V.

1995-2012

Judge at the Hessian Administrative Court

2005-2012 in the Senate for Aviation Law

1990-1995

Judge at the Darmstadt Administrative Court

1987-1990

City councilor and head of the cross-divisional office for law, economic development and equal opportunities officer at the city of Meschede in the Hochsauerland district

1979-1987

Legal studies at the Philipps University in Marburg, followed by legal clerkship

Aviation Qualifications

1999

powered flight license

2000

CVFR Eligibility

2002

Technical course engine attendant

Claudia_Ott© Michael Aust

Claudia
Ott

LL.M. (IT law)
Business Economist International Management (Univ.)
Auditor ISO 9001 & EN 9100

Claudia Ott joined the law firm in mid-2021.
After studying law and business administration, she first came into contact with aviation as General Counsel of Berger Lichttechnik GmbH & Co. KG, which is a supplier to Airbus, among other things.

She oversaw other aviation projects for the company owner and thus obtained her own pilot’s license for helicopters. Together with her passion for paragliding, she is also able to optimally combine professional and private life.

Qualifications and professional positions

2019-2021

Freelance business development consultant (2019-2021)

2020

Further training as an auditor for ISO 9001 and ISO 9100 at TÜV Süd (2020)

2016-2019

Legal Counsel of Berger Lichttechnik GmbH & Co. KG, Pullach and support of international projects of the company and owner (2016-2019)

Until 2016

Legal Counsel at Peters, Schönberger & Partner, Munich (2016)

2015-2016

International management studies at the Fernuniversität Hagen (2015-2016)

2014-2015

Masters degree from the University of Aberystwyth, Wales
LL.M. in Technology Law

2014

Working student at Telefónica Deutschland GmbH, Munich (2014)

2010-2012

Supervision of international research projects as a working student in the legal department of the Max Planck Society in Munich

2006-2014

Legal studies at the LMU Munich

Aviation Qualifications

2016

paragliding license

2021

helicopter flight license