At a Summer CLE Program with the Association of Corporate Counsel South Carolina Chapter on Thursday, July 25 in Columbia, South Carolina, Grant Guillot discussed the rise of drone use in commercial operations as well as the legal issues arising from commercial drone utilization.
The presentation was followed by a live demonstration from FlyGuys, Inc., where attendees witnessed drone capabilities firsthand.
Due to the increasing relaxation of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations, commercial utilization of unmanned aerial vehicles (commonly known as “drones”) is positioned to increase exponentially over the next few years as numerous industries discover innovative ways to cut costs, reduce risks, and increase efficiency using drone technology.
Companies in various sectors, including agriculture and forestry, construction, coastal mapping and restoration, emergency responses, energy/oil & gas, film, insurance, law enforcement, real estate, telecommunications, transportation and logistics and utilities are rapidly implementing drone use in their respective operations. As the federal regulatory environment evolves to foster commercial drone operations, emerging state and local regulations are also defining the legal bounds of drone utilization.
In addition, Jack Pringle provided an hour of Substance Abuse/Mental Health (SA/MH) CLE, as well as a summary of the legislative year in South Carolina and recent decisions of the United States Supreme Court, with some technology issues thrown in for good measure.