Gary W. Allen is an attorney, consultant, and arbitrator /mediator specializing in aviation matters. He joined the FAA as a law clerk in 1970. He retired in September 2005 after serving the FAA and US DoJ for over 34 years, 20 as Director of the 50-person Aviation & Admiralty Litigation staff of the Torts Branch, Civil Division, with responsibility for the prosecution and defense of all aviation and admiralty tort litigation brought by or against the United States and its departments and agencies.

A District of Columbia native, he graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Ohio State University in 1969, where he worked as a flight instructor for over 1000 flight hours. He received his Juris Doctor in 1972 from the Georgetown University Law Center, where he was an Editor of its law journal. He has personally tried many complex aviation cases throughout the United States and is three circuits short of having argued in every US Court of Appeals.

Mr. Allen joined the Lawyer-Pilots Bar Association in 1973, has been Editor of its quarterly Journal since 1987, was active in ABA leadership positions for many years, and has spoken on aviation and attorney ethics in venues from Boston to Bangkok. He started flying in 1961, flew solo on his 16th birthday and holds a Commercial pilot certificate with single and multi-engine and instrument ratings, and is a flight instructor in single- and multi-engine aircraft. He also flies two Mavic drones, a Pro (awaiting its Remote ID module) and a 249-gram Mini 3.

He and his wife Marie live in Williamsburg, Virginia, when they're not traveling to see their three children and six grandchildren in Nashville, Los Angeles, and St. Petersburg, Florida.