Hospitality

Overview

The Hospitality Group brings value to the table for hospitality industry clients, by providing practical legal advice and support based on extensive in-house legal experience (including a number of former general counsels) and broad experience across the hospitality industry from transactional matters to operational matters to dispute resolution. At the same time, the Hospitality Group draws upon the subject-matter expertise of Eckert Seamans attorneys in other practice areas to provide broad legal support to clients, including for labor and employment, trademark, and tax matters.

The Hospitality Group has extensive experience advising on matters involving hotels, spas, tourism, restaurants (including celebrity chef concepts), entertainment venues (including gaming and waterparks), condominiums, short-term stay apartments, and golf courses:

• Representing private equity funds, real estate investment trusts (REITS), lenders, owners, developers, hotel management companies, and operators of hotels, resorts, spas and restaurants.

• Handling a variety of transactional matters, including:

  • Hotel acquisitions and dispositions;

  • Financings of hotel and resort real estate, including CMBS loans and public-private arrangements;

  • Joint venture agreements;

  • Third-party and brand management agreements;

  • Franchise agreements;

  • Lease agreements; and

  • Mergers and acquisitions, and general securities matters.

• Handling international hospitality transactions, with experience in over 40 countries on 6 continents.

• Advising clients regarding new developments in the hospitality industry and market-standard terms.

• Acting as extensions of in-house legal departments for large and small brand management and third-party management companies.

• Working closely with business dealmakers and in-house counsel, to achieve desired business outcomes.

In addition to a strong transactional base, the Hospitality Group has unique industry experience representing hotel, spa, and restaurant managers, as well as developers, lenders, and owners in day-to-day operational matters at both the corporate-level and the hotel-level. A significant portion of the Members of the Hospitality Group have in-house hotel company experience. Only this hands-on hotel company experience provides the practical industry knowledge-based insights that clients value from our team.  Matters include:

• service contracts, concession agreements, leases
• group sales and catering agreements
• master procurement agreements
• data privacy and security, including data breach management
• IT and software agreements
• administrative licensing
• development of standard forms, policies, and procedures
• employee relations matters, including EEOC matters and union negotiations
• employee benefits matters
• guest issues
• premises liability
• crisis management
• trademarks and service marks
• tax advice and representation

Eckert Seamans’ Hospitality Group also includes litigators with hotel and restaurant experience to advise and consult with clients to achieve practical business solutions to disputes among hotel owners, franchisors, and managers – and, when necessary, represent clients in general commercial litigation and defend clients in litigation at the administrative and judicial levels.

As noted above, we have a significant international practice, including representation of U.S.-based owners and operators in transactions outside of the U.S. and non-U.S.-based owners and operators in transactions within and outside of the U.S. Our attorneys work closely with in-country counsel to advise clients on transactional and operational matters on an on-going basis, developing a network of international legal support for our clients.