We have a New Administrative Law Judge -- Anfloso J. Montano - Charles Morgenstein - Blogs

We have a New Administrative Law Judge -- Anfloso J. Montano - Charles Morgenstein

Published by: Charles on 17th Aug 2010 | View all blogs by Charles

As many of you know, every appeal from an FAA Order in any enforcement case in the country are heard by only FOUR Administrative Law Judges all of whom work for the National Transportation Safety Board. The NTSB is very rare in that it is completely independent of any other government agency. Although loosly organized under the Department of Transportation, it is a separate agency which has no direct ties to the FAA. All of the FAA Appeals cases come through these four men. In the Northeast, the cases are handled by Chief Judge William Fowler. Cases in the Middle of the Country are handled by Judge William R. Mullins. Cases on the West Coast are handled by Judge Patrick Geraghty, and until a few months ago, cases in the Southeast were handled by Judge William A. Pope.

A few months ago, Judge Pope retired after a long and distinguished career of public service, including a stint working for the Department of Justice attempting to safeguard the Federal Witness Protection Program. Since then, the Southeast has not had a dedicated Administrative Law Judge, and the other three ALJ’s have been covering cases arising out of this part of the country. That changed yesterday when the Chair of the NTSB, Deborah Hersman, appointed Alfonso J. Montano to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Pope.

Judge Montano is a licensed private pilot. According to the FAA Website, Judge Montano holds a third-class Medical Certificate, and was issued his private pilot certificate in September of 2006. This stands in stark contrast to Judges Pope and Fowler, neither of whom had obtained a pilot’s certificate of any kind (although Judge Pope did have some instruction in a Cessna during the Vietnam War). Judge Geraghty is a long-time pilot, as is Judge Mullins). To me, the experience of obtaining a medical certificate and a private pilot’s certificate is a tremendous benefit to my clientele of airmen who find themselves accused of a violation by the FAA. At least we know that Judge Montano is familiar with the terminology, and with the sensations (along with the responsibilities) of flying solo as pilot-in-command; and knows what it is like to try to make important decisions in a three-dimensional environment moving at 100 knots plus.

We have also been informed that Judge Montano is married with two adult children, and that he lives in Prince William County, Virginia. He began his career after attending New Mexico Highlands University and the San Francisco School of Law, working for the United States Department of Justice as a Trial Attorney. He has spent the last 15 years working as an Administrative Law Judge for the Department of Health and Human Services and the Social Security Administration. The Administrative Law practice for the NTSB is a little different from the practice as conducted for those other agencies, and there will probably be a minor learning curve that Judge Montano will have to master, but we can reasonably expect that he will be up to speed very quickly.

Judge Montano is being introduced to the other ALJ’s of the NTSB in September in Washington, D.C., and I am hoping to able to attend the conference where he is formally introduced as a representative (one of several, I am sure) from the Southern Region. All of us in the FAA enforcement defense field are looking forward to getting to know Judge Montano and to finding out what kind of an ALJ he will be.