Constance O’Keefe focuses her practice on transportation with special expertise in international air transport. She has worked on a broad range of international aviation issues in close cooperation with the legal officials of numerous airlines. Before joining Squire Sanders in 2006, she served as director of Legal Services and general counsel ad interim for the International Air Transport Association (IATA) in Montréal, Québec.

Ms. O’Keefe is experienced in practicing before the US Departments of Transportation, Justice, and Homeland Security, the Federal Aviation Administration and other agencies.

Ms. O’Keefe is a frequent speaker at industry events and has published numerous articles including “Disabled Passengers and Disconcerting Rules” which appeared in The Air and Space Lawyer and was reprinted in AITAL Revista de Información Juridica y Aeropolitica; an updated version also appeared in Air and Space Law. She has also been published in the Journal of Air Law and Commerce, the Oregon Law Review, the Denver Journal of International Law & Policy and has contributed several op ed articles on legal topics to the Los Angeles Times.

She has taught US students as an adjunct instructor of Law at Brooklyn Law School in Brooklyn, New York and at The George Washington University School of Law in Washington DC, and has taught international students at the International Law Institute and at IATA’s Aviation Training & Development Institute.

Ms. O’Keefe has lived and worked in Japan, where she taught English as a second language, and has also written several general interest works on Japan.

Representative Experience

• Representing US-based and non-US-based airlines on international, bilateral and policy matters.
• Analyzing and preparing airline responses to regulatory proposals in various jurisdictions.
• Responding to court challenges and international law developments that relate to medical issues.
• Representing airlines in policy matters and enforcement proceedings by customs and border officials.
• Counseling airlines and conducting compliance training on international competition law issues.