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Frank H. Granito, III
Frank H. Granito, III, a partner in the firm's New York office, received his undergraduate degree from Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania in 1981. From 1981 until his graduation from St. John's University School of Law in 1987, he was involved in managing Pilgrim Airlines, a regional air carrier that operated throughout the northeast and Canada.
Mr. Granito was a member of the court-appointed Plaintiffs' Trial Committee in the multidistrict litigation arising out of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, which obtained a jury verdict of wilful misconduct against Pan Am after a 13 week trial on liability. Following the liability trial, Mr. Granito successfully litigated the damage phase of the Lockerbie litigation on behalf of the families of 60 victims of the disaster. In the aftermath of the Pan 103 litigation, the Speiser firm commenced an action against Libya on behalf of its Pan Am 103 clients pursuant to the anti-terrorism legislation that amended the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act. As a member of the court appointed Plaintiffs' Committee, Mr. Granito met with representatives of the Libyan government in London, Paris and Tripoli and helped to negotiate the historic $2.7 billion settlement between the Pan Am 103 families and Libya. This settlement also set the framework for the renewal of diplomatic relations between the United States and Libya.
Mr. Granito has served as a member of the Plaintiffs' Committee in the following multidistrict mass disaster litigations: Amtrak "Sunset Limited" Train Disaster, Mobile, Alabama (1993); TWA Flight 800, Long Island, New York (1996); Swiss Air Flight 111, Halifax, Nova Scotia (1998); Egyptair Flight 990, Nantucket Island, Massachusetts (1999); Executive Airlines Jetstream Charter, Bear Creek, Pennsylvania (2000) and American Airlines Flight 587, Belle Harbor, New York (2001). Presently, Mr. Granito is a member of the Plaintiffs' Committee in the civil litigation arising out of the September 11, 2001 hijackings of American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175 that crashed into the World Trade Center Towers.
In addition to his work in mass disaster litigation, Mr. Granito has successfully represented the victims of accidents involving general aviation and military air crashes.
Mr. Granito is a frequent guest speaker at aviation conferences and has written numerous articles dealing with litigation issues pertaining to air law. He is also a guest lecturer at Fordham University School of Law and St. John's University School of Law and is frequently called upon by the print media and local and national television stations to offer his commentary on aviation matters.
Mr. Granito is a past chairman of the Aviation and Space Law Committee of the American Bar Association, and a past member of the Aeronautics Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. He is admitted to the bars of New York (1987) and New Jersey (1988) and the United States District Courts for the Southern, Northern and Eastern districts of New York and the District of New Jersey. He is admitted to and has argued before the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and has appeared pro hac vice in many state and federal courts throughout the United States. Additionally, Mr. Granito was one of the first attorneys from the United States to be admitted by a Scottish Court to appear on behalf of plaintiffs in a Fatal Accident Inquiry. Mr. Granito has also been awarded the prestigious AV Peer Review rating by Martindale Hubbell.
He serves on the Leadership Council of Franklin and Marshall College as well as on the Board of Directors of Cardinal Spellman High School, Bronx, New York.
Mr. Granito resides in New Canaan, Connecticut with his wife Monica and their five children.
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