TRAVERSE CITY – Attorney Enrico Schaefer has had an interest in wind-related activities for most of his life. So when Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, more commonly called drones, started to come into vogue for possible commercial uses, Traverse Legal, the law firm Schaefer co-founded, Traverse Legal, PLC, positioned itself to become a leader in practicing drone law.

“I went back to college to learn about back-end technology used in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles,” Schaefer said. “I knew it was going to be a big arena. There is no sector that has more innovation going on than UAVs. It’s also the hottest sectors for financing now.”

For the first time in history, the FAA is allowing the use of drones for commercial purposes under what is known as a Section 333 exemption.  Schaefer added: “It’s easy to put a drone in the sky. But just because you can fly, does not mean you should fly. Our commercial clients are committed to doing it right, and putting safety first.”

In July, Traverse Legal launched a new website focused on conveying the essential information regarding FAA Regulations for drone law. The website can be found at www.dronelaw.pro. It is staffed by Schaefer and his legal experts who have experience filing the paperwork for Federal Aviation Administration Section 333 Petition exemptions for the commercial use of drones.

This area of the law is very new. It was just February 2015 when the FAA approved Section 333 of the FAA Modernization and Reform Act that grants the Transportation Secretary the authority to determine whether an airworthiness certificate will be granted to operate Unmanned Aerial Systems in the National Airspace System.

Schaefer said flying a drone for fun or recreation does not require a pilot’s license. But when you fly one for business – say to do agricultural, real estate photography and power line inspections – the FAA requires to drone pilot to have an airman certificate.

To better understand the process, Schaefer took classes at Northwestern Michigan College, which, he said, has one of the best UAV programs in the country. The UAV program is led by two professors, Carl Rocheleau, Chief UAS Instructor, and Robert Dreer, an FAA pilot and UAS instructor. Dreer flew drones for the military. Both provide Traverse Legal with technical support, documents and maintenance manuals from which they built this aspect of the practice. Northwestern Michigan College has helped to make Traverse City a “hot spot” for beta testing drones, and drone pilots, Schaefer said.

“I even took flight school,” he said. “Now I’m flying UAVs.”

After he got up to speed on UAVs, Schaefer taught other Traverse Legal attorneys to understand all legal aspects of the unmanned aircraft systems including the technology, hardware and software system of drones and the assorted FAA regulations and rules surrounding commercial drone flights.

“There are some other drone attorneys out there around the country,” Schaefer said. “A small group of people. But the world of commercial drones is a high tech and highly regulated space. There has been a tremendous learning curve to understand the FAA regs, let alone technology on the navigational system.”

All of this emphasis on understanding drone law eventually ends up in the court room, Schaefer said.

“What happens when a drone crashes into someone on the ground?” he asked. “Is it equipment malfunction or pilot error? That’s what we will help the court determine at Traverse Legal.”

Enrico Schaefer is co-founder of Traverse Legal. For more information, click on http://www.traverselegal.com/