Vanessa Aaron is a senior associate in the firm’s Litigation Group who focuses on aviation, personal injury litigation, and product liability matters. Prior to her legal career, Vanessa was an Air Traffic Controller for the Federal Aviation Administration and U.S. Air Force. She is a commercial pilot, flight instructor, and teaches FAA regulations to new pilots, so she understands how to navigate complex regulatory systems and attain positive outcomes for her clients. Vanessa has a technical mind and an intuitive understanding of the engineering elements of product liability and aviation matters. Her clients appreciate her ability to use this skillset to take technical concepts, process, and distill them into digestible information.

Vanessa graduated from Lewis and Clark Law School, cum laude, where she was a lead article editor for the Lewis and Clark Law Review. Her academic focuses were civil procedure and complex litigation. During law school, she clerked for the Hon. John V. Acosta at the U.S. District Court. Vanessa’s diverse background, academic achievements, and practical experience provide her with a wide base of knowledge and skills that she employs daily to serve Bullivant Houser’s clients.

Vanessa is an avid aviator and sailor. She soloed her first airplane just a few months after her 17th birthday and has had her eyes skyward ever since. Vanessa holds a commercial pilot’s license and flight instructor license in single-engine airplanes, seaplanes, and gliders. She and her husband have also just returned from a two-year sailing adventure in the Atlantic and Caribbean aboard their 46-foot sail catamaran named Serenity. Serenity has found a new family to sail her, and Vanessa is excited to return home to family in Oregon and resume land life in the PNW. Vanessa also enjoys curling, cooking, and wine tasting in her free time.