Today's announcement by the Federal Aviation Administration that most drones must be registered with the FAA by February 19 may not impact you personally. But you should take some time to become familiar with the details. This will be good for a lot of conversation over the holiday season and, as a lawyer, you should be prepared to have an informed discussion over the topic.
After all, some parents are going to be quite concerned when they hear they are going to be required to register Junior's Christmas present with the federal government. That by itself would provoke some interesting holiday party conversations. You don't have to do a lot of research to be up to speed on this hot topic. Just read the online coverage and commentary from today's announcement so you can have all the details handy. The fact you can get your $5 fee refunded if you apply within the first 30 days will be a detail of interest to some. You are probably already aware of the near-misses with aircraft and small drone crashes into public events that have created the perceived need for registration.
If you did not know that there were lawyers practicing drone law today, just do some online searches for "drone law" or "drone lawyer" to see some interesting results. And for bonus points at the holiday party you might want to read a bit on some the the drone law sites to learn what a Section 333 Grant of Exemption entails.
The main point here is that drone law is a new and developing area of the law. There will be an opportunities for lawyers with an interest in this area to serve clients on a topic we wouldn't have even understood just a few years ago. This will be one of many emerging areas of the law in the near future. But the secondary point is that it is good for a lawyer to be both entertaining and authoritative in social setting. Being armed with a fun topic will be better than answering those same old questions that people often ask lawyers when they first meet them.