the aviator lawyer
Mark C. Fava

Lifelong leadership and business lessons for success from a follower to a leader with a few good stories along the way . . . . .

Here's What I Learned

Welcome to the aviator lawyer, a project filled with unique and engaging content about success gained from over 36 years of learning as a naval aviator, a lawyer, a follower, a leader, and an author.

Explore the aviator lawyer blog

Like a good Netflix series, the blog posts below are chronological and build on each other, so you might want to start at the very beginning with "What I Learned From the Admiral."
I am now working on "What I Learned From the Judge!"

Start at the beginning

Go to the Index

8 hours ago
6 min

Will the Murdaugh case change anything?

This is my third post related to the trial of my law school classmate Alex Murdaugh. My first two posts are available below. My first...

Mar 12
7 min

Lady Justice and Judge Newman

The jury has spoken. While I thought there was more than ample evidence to support a guilty verdict, I thought we were headed for hung...

Mar 1
4 min

The Murdaugh trial and Judge Newman

Alex Murdaugh was a law school classmate of mine. Class of 1994 at the University of South Carolina School of Law. Like many, I have been...

Feb 11
5 min

A Death Row Story

From 1994 to 1996, I worked as a federal judicial law clerk for The Honorable David C. Norton in Charleston. Judge Norton was my first...

Feb 4
2 min

There are two sides to every story

As a federal judicial clerk, I read hundreds of pages of written pleadings filed with the court. Before a motion’s hearing, I drafted a...

Jan 27
3 min

Know when to shut up

I was almost always in the courtroom behind the bench with the Judge for motions' hearings when opposing lawyers were arguing a legal...

Jan 21
4 min

Provide top cover

This is a blog about leadership advice based on lessons I learned first as a follower and observer of leaders. In my first series called...

Jan 14
3 min

What I Learned from the Judge!

Lifelong lessons that I learned as a federal judicial law clerk

Dec 13, 2022
2 min

Have a great holiday!

I am going to take the next few weeks to focus on the book I am writing and enjoy the holidays. I am using much of the content in this...

Nov 25, 2022
7 min

Fair winds and following seas Admiral!

We have come to the end of my blog series of “What I Learned from the Admiral.” I have one last lesson in this conclusion. As it is...

Nov 19, 2022
4 min

Say thank you often

Saying thank you goes a long way! I learned that more than 30 years ago from the Admiral. This is a story about the power of saying thank...

Nov 13, 2022
6 min

Use the right tool for the job

The Admiral taught me to make sure I always had and used the right tool to get a job done. If you did not have the right tools, he said,...

Nov 10, 2022
10 min

Family trips

Happy Veterans Day! One of the many rules as an Admiral’s Aide, and a primary reason for so much focus on “attention to detail,” was that...

Nov 3, 2022
5 min

Seniority matters

This could be the shortest post yet. The concept is simple, yet extremely important —seniority matters. So does situational awareness of...

Oct 21, 2022
8 min

More on loyalty and integrity: If there's doubt, there's no doubt

This is a blog about leadership principles I learned many years ago when I was an admiral’s aide or Loop. I have posted a lot on this...

Sep 30, 2022
6 min

Loyalty on the job

As an employee, loyalty to your boss and employer is important. As an admiral’s aide, in addition to knowing the admiral better than...

Aug 29, 2022
7 min

Timing is everything.

As a loop, being on time mattered. I have already discussed the importance of being on time and an occasion when I was embarrassingly...

Aug 18, 2022
11 min

Be a team player

In whatever organization you are in, be a team player. In large part, your reputation and success will be based on whether you are a team...

Aug 6, 2022
10 min

I need a blow torch!

Be flexible, creative, and innovative, especially when things do not go as planned. I spent most of the night and day as an admiral’s...

Jul 29, 2022
12 min

Lobsters

I am on vacation in Maine, so this post is timely and a trip down memory lane. I was stationed in Brunswick, Maine as an Admiral's Aide...

Jul 16, 2022
8 min

Deckhand, a congressman, and two admirals.

When I first got the job as an Admiral's aide, the Admiral told me in the initial guidance that I would have to do a bunch of tasks, some...

Jun 23, 2022
10 min

A trip to a ship and a Navy Chief!

Success as an Admiral’s Aide depends on many things, but the most important aspect is knowing every detail about where you are going...

Jun 5, 2022
5 min

Barbershop scuttlebutt

When I became an admiral’s aide in the Navy, the Admiral provided me with six rules that I discussed in an earlier blog post, the Initial...

May 24, 2022
9 min

Leaders remain cool when failure seems imminent

As an admiral’s aide, there were many times when failure seemed imminent. As a pilot, you never want to be in an inverted spin. When you...

Contact

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United States South Carolina

the aviator lawyer Mark C. Fava

Explore the aviator lawyer blog

Like a good Netflix series, the blog posts below are chronological and build on each other, so you might want to start at the very beginning with "What I Learned From the Admiral." I am now working on "What I Learned From the Judge!"

Contact

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the aviator lawyer
Mark C. Fava

Like a good Netflix series, the blog posts below are chronological and build on each other, so you might want to start at the very beginning with "What I Learned From the Admiral."
I am now working on "What I Learned From the Judge!"