By Peter Vieth
The Daily Record Newswire
RICHMOND, VA — Some lawyers are hoping to board a fast-climbing flight of the fledgling civil drone industry once the government develops a set of ground rules. Few seem to know exactly what the future will hold for domestic unmanned flights, however.
While attorneys for government contractors already are busy helping fill the military’s demand for remote controlled aircraft with both surveillance and weapons abilities, the civil drone industry is hovering, as many businesses wait for a regulatory structure.
Law firms across the country are forming practice groups devoted to unmanned aerial vehicles.
Enthusiasts describe a vast palette of possibilities for the homeland use of drones, from fighting crime to news gathering to monitoring far-flung industrial equipment.
Lawyers hope to be along for the ride as business explores the possibilities.
Meanwhile, there is a Wild-West aspect to civilian drone use now, with few clear rules to regulate the remote-controlled flights:
Police nabbed one person and sought another after a botched attempt to fly marijuana, tobacco and cell phones into a South Carolina maximum security prison in April. The drone crashed short of the prison fence.
In Philadelphia, an entrepreneur hopes to drag advertising banners from low-flying drones. His lawyers tell him the plan is legal, he told ABC News.
The FAA reportedly investigated a photographer’s use of a drone to capture video of a congressman’s June 21 wedding. No word on any findings of a violation.
While the civilian drone industry awaits a flight plan, one Virginia law firm boasts of a long record of working with the contractors who keep the military drones flying. Military unmanned aerial systems are “where the action is,” according to Robert E. Korroch of Newport News. He chairs the 12-attorney Williams Mullen drone practice group, which launched in June.
A similar practice group debuted in February for Richmond-based LeClairRyan firm.
“We’re not waiting for things to happen, we’re helping businesses now. Companies are not waiting to see what the FAA is going to do,” Korroch said.
Still, he said, not a lot of U.S. businesses are operating drones for profit just yet.
Drone practice groups elsewhere sound a similar theme: Great prospects, slowly emerging ventures.
“We’ve had inquiries from several clients that had an interest in using drones … in their business, and it’s clear this is a new technology that’s going to be used in multiple industries,” said Joe Orlet, a St. Louis, Missouri, attorney who is part of a newly formed drone practice group.
Unmanned aerial vehicles make up the fastest growing sector of the world aerospace industry, reports the Teal Group, a Fairfax-based consulting firm.
However, the civil UAV market lags far behind the burgeoning military side of the business.
Civil UAV business accounts for 11 percent of the overall drone market in a 2014 Teal study.
That number is expected to grow to 14 percent by the end of the 10-year forecast, according to a news release from the Teal Group.
News gathering is one of the many expected applications for drone technology, and a Washington firm has already entered that arena.
Holland and Knight in May authored a friend-of-the-court brief on behalf of news organizations in support of a photographer fighting a $10,000 FAA fine.
An administrative law judge overturned the fine.
However, the case is on review before the National Transportation Safety Board.
News organizations want to “encourage rulemaking that promotes a First Amendment-friendly atmosphere for the safe use of UAVs in journalism,” said Charles D. Tobin of Holland & Knight.
The current regulatory battle involves the smallest of drones – model aircraft used by hobbyists and others at low altitudes over private property.
A group of 30 academics complains that proposed FAA regulations on small UAVs will stifle research and impede potential business ventures.
The rules allow hobby flights below 400 feet as long as the drones fly away from airports and stay within sight of the operator, but commercial operators and private educators are barred, according to Paul Voss, a Massachusetts professor who spearheaded a protest letter to the Transportation Department.
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