Patrick is a partner in Locke Lord’s Litigation Department, and is a member of the Aviation Practice Group. In his career, Mr. Byrnes has represented domestic and international insurers and insureds in areas including products liability, negligence, insurance coverage, reinsurance, premises liability, employment discrimination, and trespass.
Through Mr. Byrnes’s extensive aviation experience, he has defended aircraft component part manufacturers and suppliers, aircraft manufacturers, airlines and airline consortiums, aircraft leasing companies, airports, and aviation security companies. Mr. Byrnes is well-versed in, and has substantial experience with, issues relating to the General Aviation Revitalization Act, the Warsaw Convention and Federal Preemption.
Mr. Byrnes has handled aviation cases in jurisdictions spanning from Alaska to Florida, and has extensive experience in defending client’s interests in complex, multiparty litigation. In addition, Mr. Byrnes has been involved in a number of cases involving foreign aviation accidents, and is intimately familiar with all of the unique issues associated with defending such matters.
Mr. Byrnes is a frequent speaker on the issue of aircraft lessor liability, including delivering an address at the Annual Meeting of the International Society of Transport Aircraft Trading on the topic. He has also prepared presentations for the Blue Angels Seminar on current issues in tort law, the Risk Insurance Managers Society Annual Conference and Exhibition, Aerospace Manufacturers Session, on current issues in the field of products liability, and the Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s Aviation Law and Insurance Symposium on the impact of punitive damages claims on aircraft products manufacturers.
Mr. Byrnes is an active member of the Chicago Bar Association's Judicial Evaluation Committee, which investigates and evaluates the qualifications of persons who may be considered for nomination, election, appointment to or retention in judicial office.
Education
- J.D., DePaul University College of Law, 1999
Top 25%
Dean's List - B.A., English, University of Illinois, 1996
Bar Admissions
Admitted To Practice
- U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, 1999