Aviation, energy & the legal mistakes that cost the most – with Lina Taletavičiūtė-Misiūnienė
Some lawyers find a niche. Our partner & attorney Lina Taletavičiūtė-Misiūnienė found two – and both of them have a way of humbling people who think they’ve seen everything.
Over more than two decades in international law, Lina has finally built her practice around M&A and financing in aviation and energy. That was all because that’s how serious work tends to go: you follow the complexity, and it takes you somewhere that demands more.
Two sectors and one common thread
Aviation and energy arrived the way most meaningful specialisms do – through the work itself, across jurisdictions, across deal types, across clients with real stakes. What kept Lina in those industries is what both sectors share: they punish complacency.
„Both require constant attention, constant learning, and full concentration on every single deal.”
In aircraft and parts transactions, that means operating across multiple legal systems simultaneously – asset finance, international aviation regulation, cross-border structuring, and the details that quietly determine whether a transaction holds. Title history, Cape Town Convention protections, sanctions exposure, insurance, maintenance obligations, deregistration rights. Not footnotes. Foundations.
„My approach is to make the transaction clear and manageable from the start. I look at which countries are involved, where the aircraft will be registered and operated, what approvals are needed, and how the financing or leasing structure will work in practice.
I work closely with the client, use extensive FO group tax expertise, to make sure nothing is missed. The goal is always to help the client close the deal smoothly, protect their position.”, Lina comments.
Energy in transition and what that means for deals
The energy sector in the Baltics and wider CEE region is moving fast, and that momentum is reshaping the transactions crossing Lina’s desk.
„Investors are no longer looking only at existing operating assets. They are also willing to look at development-stage projects – if the permitting, grid connection, and land rights are strong enough.”
Investors are moving fast but the regulatory ground beneath them is not. Grid capacity is constrained, permits can be challenged. And in this region, energy security is a primary commercial and political driver. Governments are more involved than before, which changes both the risk profile and the deal structure.
Lina’s approach: establish the legal picture before the transaction structure is locked, not after. In this space, due diligence is not a compliance exercise. It is how you determine whether the value you are acquiring actually exists.
The red flags that don’t announce themselves
After years of leading due diligence on complex cross-border transactions, Lina has learned that the most consequential risks are rarely the visible ones.
In aviation, it might be a gap in title history, a missing maintenance record, or an ambiguous repossession right – points that appear technical but carry real financial and operational weight downstream.
In energy, it is often the condition of a permit or the completeness of land rights. A project can look strong on paper and still fall apart legally.
„Clients sometimes assume that because a project has progressed commercially, the legal foundation is solid. Due diligence is where we test those assumptions.”
The most expensive mistake
In Lina’s experience, it comes down to sequencing. Legal and tax advisers brought in after the commercial structure is agreed are working against themselves – asked to document a deal that may already have the wrong architecture.
Lina’s advice is simple: bring the legal and tax teams in early, even before the main commercial terms are final. Good advice at that stage is not about slowing the deal down. It helps shape a structure that works, identifies problems before they become expensive, and gives the client a much stronger position in negotiations.
If you have any questions or require assistance in navigating these sectors, feel free to contact FO Consulting group for tailored advice.
