Jonathan B. Rupprecht is a drone lawyer and an FAA-certificated commercial pilot with single-engine, multi-engine, and instrument ratings, who has been cited or quoted by the New York Times, USA Today, Newsweek, Huffpost, Inc., Politico, NPR, Marketwatch, The Independent, and many other sources. He currently is a contributor to Forbes.com for Aerospace & Defense. The American Bar Association has published a legal book on unmanned aircraft law that Jonathan co-authored with other drone attorneys called Unmanned Aircraft in the National Airspace: Critical Issues, Technology, and the Law. Jonathan wrote two chapters on administrative law, the FAA rule-making process, the special rule on unmanned aircraft, and a brief history of unmanned aircraft. Jonathan also authored another book called Drones: Their Many Civilian Uses and the U.S. Laws Surrounding Them. He was first an advisor for one of the amicus briefs for the highly publicized Huerta v. Pirker case. Jonathan worked with John Taylor on the three Taylor v. FAA cases which in May 2017 resulted in the Federal District Court of Appeals for D.C. striking down the FAA’s registration regulations. He also briefly helped on the Singer v. City of Newton which was the first federal district court case striking down a local drone law as preempted. He was one of the attorneys litigating the RaceDayQuads LLC case in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals challenging the FAA remote identification regulations.

He has helped many businesses in setting up drone operations by obtaining 130+ waivers (beyond line of sight, swarming crop dusting, drone light show for 500 drones, moving boat, and over people), 50+ airspace authorizations, 80+ exemptions, and 32 operating certificates. He’s assisted in litigation regarding civil and criminal defense cases involving drones (invasion of privacy, reckless operation, etc.). Jonathan is currently practicing law in South Florida at his firm Rupprecht Law, P.A. (www.jrupprechtlaw.com) where he assists clients with exemptions, waivers, authorizations, FAA enforcement actions, and various other drone-related matters.