Dr. Barbara E. Lichman is Managing Partner of Chevalier, Allen & Lichman, LLP, a firm specializing in airport development, land use, environmental, and aviation law and litigation.  Dr. Lichman has an extensive and successful record representing airports, municipalities, developers, and other public and private clients in litigation and other administrative proceedings under the Federal Aviation Regulations (FARs), the California Aeronautics Act governing land use in airport environs (“Aeronautics Act”), the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the Clean Air Act (CAA), the Clean Water Act (CWA), the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), and the California Coastal Act, among other Federal and State statutes.  She has also successfully represented clients on aviation related issues including land use restriction and zoning around airports, inverse condemnation, airport access, and air crash liability. 

Dr. Lichman’s experience is both national and international.  As a Registered Federal Lobbyist, Dr. Lichman successfully lobbied and testified before Congress on behalf of aircraft owners and operators on issues including the grant of investment tax credits for noise reduction of aircraft engines.  She also served as counsel to Air AAA Group, a consortium of international architectural, engineering and construction companies in their airport development activities at Pudong Airport, Shanghai, China.   

Dr. Lichman currently represents a diverse group of clients including, among others:

• City of Las Vegas, Nevada (in Federal litigation under NEPA and the CAA challenging the modification of departure procedures at McCarran International Airport);
• Cities of Inglewood and Culver City, California (in developing strategies at the local, State and Federal levels to prevent increased impacts of operations at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and litigation under NEPA, CEQA and the Aeronautics Act);
• County of Delaware, Pennsylvania (in analyzing the proposed realignment of the New York, New Jersey, and Philadelphia Metropolitan Area airspace);
• City of Highland, California (in developing and implementing an Airport Land Use Compatibility Plan for San Bernardino International Airport);
• Sunroad Enterprises, Inc., California (in negotiations with the FAA and California Department of Transportation, Aeronautics Division, regarding issues arising from commercial development near Montgomery Field in San Diego, California);
• Pardee Homes, McMillin Land Development, Integral Communities, DR Horton, Centex Homes and Sunroad Enterprises, Inc., California (in working with the San Diego County Airport Land Use Commission in the development of the Airport Land Use Compatibility Plans (“ALUCPs”) for San Diego County Airports ); 
• The Garrett Group, Pacific Pointe Partners, and Creative Energy Corporation in the County of Riverside, California (in analyzing the compatibility of proposed development in the French Valley Airport environs and in CEQA litigation on behalf of Creative Energy Corporation (Silverhawk Land & Acquisitions, LLC) challenging Riverside County Airport Land Use Compatibility policies);
• City of Hawthorne, California (in providing advice and counsel to the City regarding operations at, and the land use impacts of, Hawthorne Municipal Airport);
• City of Oceanside, California (in providing advice and Counsel to the City regarding the legal implications of deactivation of general aviation airports under Federal, State, and local laws and regulations including FAA regulations governing the use and re-use of airport property); and
• City of Vandalia, Ohio (in providing advice and counsel to the City regarding proposed development at Dayton International Airport (“DAY”) and the FAA’s proposed approval of a conditional Airport Layout Plan (“ALP”) for the development.

Prior to the establishment of Chevalier, Allen & Lichman, LLP in 1995, Dr. Lichman was an associate at Katten, Muchin, Zavis and Weitzman (1994-1995) where she was a member of the litigation team representing airlines such as U.S. Air and their insurance companies in air crash personal injury and wrongful death litigation.  From 1988-1994, Dr. Lichman was an associate in the litigation department of McKittrick, Jackson, DeMarco & Peckenpaugh (now Jackson, DeMarco, Tidus & Peckenpaugh) where she represented a broad array of corporate clients in contract and associated civil litigation. 

Dr. Lichman has served on the Board of Airport Consultants Council, in which organization she remains an active member.  Dr. Lichman is the author of "Courts vs. Planning-The Anatomy of Four Conflicts," Western State University Law Review, Vol. 15, No. 1 (1987) and "Producer Services and Distribution in French Regional Economies: A Tale of Two Theories", Doctoral Dissertation, University of Southern California School of Urban and Regional Planning (1987).  A Member of the State Bar of California, Dr. Lichman is also admitted to practice in the U.S. District Courts for the Central and Southern Districts of California and the U.S. Courts of Appeal for the Third, Sixth, Ninth and D.C. Circuits.

Dr. Lichman earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Brandeis University in 1967, a Masters of Planning from the University of Southern California School of Urban and Regional Planning in 1981, and a Doctorate of Philosophy in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Southern California School of Urban and Regional Planning in 1987.  In 1988, Dr. Lichman earned her law degree (Juris Doctor) from the University of Southern California Law Center.

E-mail: blichman@calairlaw.com