A Conversation with Karl Hennessee

John Quinn is joined by Karl Hennessee, Senior Vice President and Head of Litigation, Investigations, and Regulatory Affairs at Airbus. Karl supervises Airbus’s criminal investigations, regulatory cases, product liability cases, and commercial arbitration disputes, covering incidents as significant as air crashes, as well as other disputes. He discusses the importance of maintaining a “hundred-year view” of issues that includes overseeing issues that arose 50 years in the past while preparing for regulatory challenges 50 years in the future. His team includes specialists in AI, aircraft certification, and arbitration, all of whom share a “democracy of ideas” approach to developing case strategies. Karl identifies three core principles that guide Airbus’s dispute management: viewing disputes as tools for managing risk rather than ends in themselves; “strategic empathy” — understanding opposing interests and perspectives to improve outcomes; and humility in handling high-stakes, high-profile cases. In house lawyers need to earn trust by translating legal issues into actionable insights for business leaders, often by first understanding the technical aspects of Airbus’s products. Public relations play a critical role in managing disputes, especially for a company under constant public scrutiny. There must be close collaboration with communications teams to present balanced narratives and build public trust even in adverse situations. John and Karl also discusses emerging areas of concern such as ESG regulations and the recent breakdown of international norms of comity and deference to foreign judicial decisions, especially with respect to the effect of international sanctions. Karl has extensive experience in international arbitration and is the former Chairman of the Governing Body of the ICC Court of International Arbitration. He offers his insights about potential improvements in arbitration, particularly requiring shorter case timelines, having early case assessments to weed out hopeless frivolous  cases and other suggestions summarized in a recent paper published by the London Court of International Arbitration. Finally, he shares advice on work-life balance, emphasizing the importance of dedicating time to personal interests and preserving a sense of fulfillment in both professional and personal life.