Lewis-Burke advised and crafted a strategy that achieved a scientific society’s desire to increase oversight and implementation of technically-informed safety standards following several highly-publicized airline crashes.
Prior to these incidents, Lewis-Burke recommended the Society establish internal mechanisms that, with the firm’s guidance, translated technical concerns into policy-oriented recommendations for federal decisionmakers.
This foresight enabled the Society to ready its expertise in the event of future safety deficiencies becoming public. In the aftermath of the airline crashes, the federal agency responsible for certifying the safety of the aircraft and reviewing the accidents conducted investigations that were either opaque or incomplete. Meanwhile, the House of Representatives began a series of high-profile investigative hearings that sought to uncover the cause of the accidents and promote remedies. Lewis-Burke provided steady counsel to the Society on effectively engaging decision-makers to effect policy changes while avoiding accusations of capitalizing on two major tragedies.
Through Lewis-Burke’s relationships on Capitol Hill and understanding of the policy domain, the firm was able to secure a leading member of the Society as a witness in one of the concluding congressional investigative hearings. The member’s testimony was instrumental in highlighting key technical areas lacking sufficient safety oversight, elevating the Society’s profile as a leading voice in relevant technical domains, and positioning it to offer policy recommendations on this and related topics.