Daryl M. Williams is not your average attorney. As he joins his videographer, court reporter, client and witness on a typical business flight, you soon see why. On these flights, business class means flying a Cessna 421C and the pilot is Williams himself.

“General aviation allows me to accomplish more in less time, for less money, than any other mode of transportation,” said Williams, a partner at boutique Arizona litigation law firm, Baird, Williams & Greer (www.bwglaw.net). “I give the option to my clients every time I travel of flying commercially or using my business aircraft, and they always choose private aviation. They should: I charge by the hour, and they know that my travel time will cost them considerably less using general aviation.”

Williams flies around the country taking depositions and meeting with witnesses, often traveling to remote towns where there is no commercial air service and travel times could reach up to five hours or more from the closest commercial airport.

Even when an airport offering scheduled airline service is more accessible, Williams said it is impractical to transport all of the professional electronics equipment he and his team need to record and digitize depositions and meetings without it being too costly or risking damage in the baggage handling process of a commercial airline.

Williams caught the flying bug in high school when his piano teacher’s husband, a pilot in the Navy, took him flying in a Cessna 182. Later, he received his private and commercial pilot ratings and he uses his airplane in his commercial litigation law practice.

When a Type 1 diabetes diagnosis meant he would be unable to pilot his own plane, Williams was undaunted. He embarked on a seven-year campaign that was successful in convincing the FAA that well-controlled diabetes should not be an impediment to piloting aircraft. In 1996, Williams become the first insulin-dependent diabetic allowed back in the cockpit.

Today, Williams also donates use of his aircraft for charities and organizations such as the Boy Scouts of America, Challenge Air- which offers life-changing experiences for physically challenged children (www.challengeair.com) and Veterans Airlift Command- which transports wounded military personnel, veterans and families for medical and compassionate purposes (www.veteransairlift.org). 

To listen to Mr. Williams explain the value of his business airplane, please click the green button below.