Partner
1001 Connecticut Avenue, NW
Suite 800
Washington, DC 20036
Telephone: (202) 955-5600
Fax: (202) 955-5616
epilsk@kaplankirsch.com
Vcard

For over 20 years, Eric Pilsk has represented clients in disputes involving public entities, with a particular emphasis on litigating airport, transit, land use, and environmental issues. Mr. Pilsk has handled cases involving federal aviation laws and regulations, federal preemption, the ICC Termination Act, the National Trails System Act, NEPA, Native American trust claims, construction and other commercial claims and a wide range of state and federal constitutional, land use and environmental issues. Many of these cases raised novel issues of federal and state law, including the successful defense of the nation's first airport noise restriction under the Airport Noise and Capacity Act, the successful defense of the first use of inward-facing cameras in commuter rail locomotive cabs, and the successful defense of an airport runway weight restriction against a variety of constitutional and statutory challenges. Recently he obtained a decision from the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit reversing an FAA decision finding that the Cape Wind off-shore wind energy project was not a hazard to air navigation.


He has acted as lead trial counsel in trials in state and federal courts. He also has handled administrative trials before federal and state administrative agencies, including contested evidentiary hearings before the FAA in FAR Part 16 proceedings. His appellate experience includes drafting numerous briefs to state and federal Courts of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court, as well as arguing cases in federal Courts of Appeals.


Mr. Pilsk's practice emphasizes finding creative strategies to achieve client objectives. For example, he negotiated a settlement agreement that adjusted municipal boundaries, reallocated tax revenues, changed existing zoning laws, permitted the cooperative buy-out of a neighborhood, preserved economic development plans and permitted certain airport expansion in order to resolve a 10-year dispute between two cities over an airport expansion project.

Education and Clerkships
  • J.D., Vanderbilt University School of Law, 1988
  • B.A., Wesleyan University, with honors, 1983

Bar Admissions
  • District of Columbia
  • Commonwealth of Virginia
  • United States Supreme Court
  • Various United States District Courts and Courts of Appeal

Recent and Reported Decisions

Town of Barnstable, Massachusetts v. Federal Aviation Administration, __ F.3d. __, Case No. 10-1276 (D.C. Cir. Oct. 28, 2011)

Trump v. Palm Beach County, Florida, Case No. 502010CA018444 (15th Cir. Fla. Aug. 30, 2011)

41 North 73 West, Inc. v. U.S. Dep’t of Transp., Case No. 09-4810 (2d Cir. Nov. 2, 2010)

Telnack v. Martin County, Florida, Case No. 04-459 (19th Cir. Fla. March 5, 2010

Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen v. Southern California Regional Railroad Authority, Case No. BC424287 (L.A. County Sup. Ct. June 1, 2011)

Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen v. Southern California Regional Railroad Authority, Case No. CV 09-8286 PA (C.D. Cal. June 30, 2010), appeal pending, Case No. 10-56197 (9th Cir)

Osage Nation v. United States, 72 Fed. Cl. 629 (2006) and Osage Nation v. United States, 68 Fed. Cl. 322 (2005)

Tutor-Saliba Corp. v. City of Hailey, Idaho, 452 F.3d 1055 (9th Cir. 2005)

City of Naples Airport Auth. v. FAA, F.3d 431 (D.C. Cir. 2005)

City of Burbank, California v. Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Auth., 72 Cal.App. 4th 366 (1999)

State of Kansas v. United States, 16 F.3d 436 (D.C. Cir. 1994)

Harris v. Forklift Systems, Inc., 510 U.S. 17 (1993)

Lake Forest Acad. v. American Language Acad., 777 F. Supp. 610 (ND Ill. 1991)

County of Fairfax, Virginia v. Fleet Industrial Park, Ltd., 410 S.E.2d 669 (Va. 1991)