Vanessa Aaron has one of the denser aviation résumés in this series: military air traffic controller, FAA air traffic controller, commercial pilot, flight instructor and attorney.

Air traffic control ranked among our Top 10 Toughest Jobs in the World in 2026. Aaron did that work in both the U.S. Air Force and the Federal Aviation Administration before changing professional lanes entirely.

Her current Wilson Elser biography says she now practices aviation, personal-injury and product-liability litigation. It also confirms that before law she worked as an air traffic controller for the FAA and U.S. Air Force and earned FAA commercial-pilot and flight-instructor credentials.

The FAA explains the workload, decision-making and responsibility involved in modern air traffic control.

Aaron then added a completely different professional credential. She earned her J.D. cum laude from Lewis & Clark Law School in 2020. The school’s 2025 alumni profile traces the unusual path: Air Force controller, FAA controller, pilot, law student and then aviation-focused litigator.

The overlap matters. Aviation law can involve technical questions about aircraft operations, safety systems, pilot decisions and federal regulation. Aaron entered that field after years of actually working inside the national airspace system and learning to fly aircraft herself.

An aviation attorney and professional pilot discusses how FAA rules, certificates and legal disputes intersect in practice.

Her résumé is different from commercial fisherman-turned-scientist Timothy Frawley and EOD technician-turned-ultramarathoner Aaron Hale, but it follows the same Career Journalist rule: master one high-consequence profession, then earn the credentials to operate seriously in another.

Aaron’s career stands out because none of the pieces are casual hobbies. Air traffic control requires formal certification and constant operational judgment. Commercial flying and flight instruction require FAA credentials. Practicing law requires a J.D., bar admission and continuing professional responsibility. She built all of them into one aviation-centered career.

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