Howard E. Turner

Howard E. Turner is a partner in Smith, Gambrell & Russell LLP.

He is resident in Smith Gambrell’s Atlanta, Georgia office where he heads up the Firm’s aviation law practice. Mr. Turner has over 30 years of personal experience representing airlines, aircraft lessors and financiers, aircraft parts manufacturers and engine overhaul facilities.

Mr. Turner has served as principal outside counsel for a number of major airlines in the United States and Latin America as well as representing various US, European and Latin American airlines and aircraft lessors in connection with a wide variety of domestic and cross-border aircraft financing transactions. He is highly regarded for being both practical and an innovator in aviation law matters. Among other things, he acted as lead counsel for a major US airline in the ground breaking acquisition and financing of the first large scale purchase of Airbus aircraft outside of Europe and the first by a US air carrier. Mr. Turner also has represented several major US and Latin American carriers in connection with their financial restructuring, including the largest and most rapidly effected “pre-packaged” Chapter 11 plan by a major US airline as well as in other innovative restructuring such as the filing in New York in 2003 by a Latin American carrier for reorganization under US bankruptcy laws.

Mr. Turner has served on the Aircraft Finance Subcommittee of the Financial Services Committee of the American Bar Association and lectured on aircraft finance and aviation law matters at various aviation law symposia and industry meetings. In addition, he is the author of several articles on aircraft leasing and financing and formerly served as a director of an aircraft leasing company. He has been named one the world’s leading aviation lawyers by the UK based “Expert Guides” and is listed in the International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers.

Mr. Turner attended undergraduate school at the University of Chattanooga and the University of Georgia where he majored in accounting and earned his law degree at the University of Georgia in 1968 where he was Editor-in-chief of the Georgia Law Review and first honor graduate in his law school class.