Legal Work
Captain Shawn Pruchnicki (Ret.) PhD FRAeS ATP CFII
Legal Work
Currently Shawn has participated in 11 legal as a subject matter expert with both plaintiffs and
defendants. Below the subject matter of the cases are listed by domain as opposed to date of
service. Most of subject matter expert legal work has been in the aviation industry to date with
five cases thus far.
A more recent and newer domain (First Responder/Police) for Shawn and most notably was his
involvement in the George Floyd case in Minnesota in 2022 for two separate defendants in those
manslaughter cases. After the first defendant eventually took a plea deal, three months later he
was asked again to represent another defendant in that case. Although the case was similar, it
was not the same and required additional levels of research and preparation. These were clearly
two separate SME cases related to this manslaughter case. These also represent Shawn’s only
criminal cases to date.
| Date | First Responder / Police |
|---|---|
| July 2022 | United States of America vs. Alexander Kueng. United States District Court District of Minnesota. Civil case in the death of George Floyd. Charge of second-degree manslaughter. Expert witness with a background in human factors, safety, and crew resource management. Defense led counsel Thomas Plunkett. |
| April 2022 | United States of America vs. Thomas Kiernan Lane. United States District Court District of Minnesota. Civil case in the death of George Floyd. Charge of second-degree manslaughter. Expert witness with a background in human factors, safety, and crew resource management. Defense led counsel Earl Grey. |
| Date | Aviation |
|---|---|
| December 2022 | State of Connecticut Circuit Court in the matter of Brookhaven LLC and Interstate Aviation v. Cessna Aircraft Corporation. Wrongful Death. Aviation consultant for plaintiffs. William Katt lead counsel. |
| August 2022 | State of Illinois Circuit Court, Cook County in the matter of Smithburg v. American Airlines, Inc., SCRUB, Inc, and the City of Chicago. Wrongful Injury. Aviation consultant for plaintiffs. Marc McAllister lead counsel. |
| July 2021 | State of Indiana Circuit Court in the matter of Patrick Kelly and Kesha Kelly vs Glenndale Airport, Glenndale LLC, Flight Training Centers LLC, Dale Etherington, Steve Stants and Duke Energy Indiana LLC. Wrongful Death. Aviation consultant for plaintiffs. Jared Harts lead counsel. |
| October 2020 | State of North Carolina Superior Court Division, County of Mecklenburg, in the matter of Hudson and Vernon vs. The City of Charlotte and American Airlines. Wrongful Death. Will testify for the plaintiffs on the safety culture of these organizations and the role that this played in this untimely death of their employee. Joel Rhine led counsel. |
| March 2019 | The United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania in the matter of Apfelbaum vs United States of America. Will testify for the plaintiff as to the effects of spatial disorientation in an aircraft accident. Lane Jubb led counsel. |
| Date | Medical |
|---|---|
| May 2019 | State of Illinois Circuit Court of the 17th Judicial Circuit, Winnebago County in the matter of Brown vs. Rockford Health Systems/ Dr. Joe Manaligod MD. Wrongful injury suit. Will testify for the defense on outcome and hindsight bias and how these affect investigator reliability in determining causation. Settled out of court. David Faulkner led counsel. |
| August 2018 | State of Illinois Circuit Court of the 17th Judicial Circuit, Winnebago County in the matter of Mendez vs. Rockford Health Systems/ Dr. Jose Luis Gonzalez MD. Wrongful death suit. Will testify for the defense on outcome and hindsight bias and how these affect investigator reliability in determining causation. Defense. David Faulkner led counsel. |
| January 2016 | State of Illinois Circuit Court of the 17th Judicial Circuit, Winnebago County in the matter of Slaven vs. Swedish American Hospital/ Dr. Eric John Hess MD. Wrongful death suit. Will testify for the defense on outcome and hindsight bias and how these affect investigator reliability in determining causation. Settled out of court. David Faulkner led counsel. |
| Date | Automobile/Traffic |
|---|---|
| February 2023 | State of Ohio Circuit Court in the matter of Steven Wheeler vs. Dakota Smith. Wrongful injury auto accident. Human factors consultant for plaintiffs. Bruce MacDonald led counsel. |
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Then it is very possible that we can help. In addition to our owners expertise, we have in place a network of independent contractors that span many industries at all levels. If we do not have the expertise needed, we know where to go to get it. Fill out the form below to speak with Shawn about what HFIE can do for you!