Legal - HospitalityLawyer.com®

How May I Help You: Top Legal Departments Take On the Challenges of the Hospitality Industry

by Patrick Johnson in Legal, Lodging, Technology. Posted December 18, 2015

When asked about the biggest challenges faced today by legal departments in the hospitality industry, the response from Stephen Barth, founder of HospitalityLawyer.com, could be summarized in one word: compliance. Barth, who has more than two decades worth of experience in hospitality operations, has recently seen an upward momentum of the number of U.S.-based hospitality ...

Trends for 2016: Hospitality M & A

by Thomson Reuters in Hotel Development, Legal, Lodging. Posted December 7, 2015

Practical Law Real Estate On November 16, 2015, Marriott International announced its $12.2 billion acquisition of Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide. The deal is the largest acquisition in the hospitality industry since Blackstone Group bought Hilton Hotels & Resorts for $26 billion in 2007. If the deal goes through (as is expected in mid-2016), the ...

What the Hospitality Industry Needs to Know about Website Accessibility Guidelines

by William Miller in Food & Beverage, Legal, Lodging, Technology. Posted December 6, 2015

Do private businesses, including restaurants, hotels and travel businesses who offer services to the public through their website (i.e., sell a product or service on the website) have to make their websites accessible to persons with disabilities? While the answer to that question is almost certainly “yes,” it has still not been conclusively answered by ...

Murchison & Cumming, LLP Scares Away Plaintiff in Assumption of Risk Case

by Murchison & Cumming in Legal. Posted December 3, 2015

In a decision published this week, the Fourth District Court of Appeal in San Diego held that a patron chased by a chainsaw-wielding actor at a Halloween haunted attraction assumed the risk he may become frightened, run and fall as a result of that fear when he chose to engage in the activity, and therefore ...

Changes of the California Bar Exam

by Claudia Borsutzki in Legal. Posted November 30, 2015

If you think a three-day exam is tough, you haven’t seen anything yet. The recent decision by the California State Bar Board of Trustees to shorten the California bar exam from three days to two, has been met with mixed emotions: while lawyers already admitted to practice law in California reflect on the traumatizing three ...

Texas’ open carry law: 3 steps hotels should take before the New Year

by John Harrison in Legal, Lodging, Safety & Security. Posted November 25, 2015

The Texas statute allowing the open carrying of guns by licensed holders will become effective on January 1, 2016. Prior to this effective date, Texas hotel properties should consider following these three steps in an effort to comply with the law. 1. Update the Employee Handbook Under the revised statute, a hotel may still prohibit its ...

Nominate for the 2016 Anthony G. Marshall Award

by admin in Legal. Posted November 23, 2015

Anthony G. Marshall Anthony G. Marshall was a renowned educator, author, speaker, and columnist for Hotel & Motel Management Magazine. His writing brought hospitality law to the masses, so that operators—not just lawyers—could understand what the law expected of them. He became the first recipient of the Tony Marshall Award at the 2005 Hospitality Law ...

Trojan Horse In The 2015 Budget Agreement: OSHA Can (And Undoubtedly Will) Raise Penalties By 82 Percent

by Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete LLP in Legal. Posted November 22, 2015

Wow! How did this happen? Buried in the fine print of the recent budget agreement between Congress and the White House, and seemingly slipped in at the last minute with no one claiming responsibility for the change, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration now has authority to raise penalties by about 82 percent. The Federal ...

FCC TAKES ON HOSPITALITY WI-FI MANAGEMENT AGAIN: MORE SANCTIONS, UNRESOLVED CONCERNS

by Post & Schell in Legal, Technology. Posted November 4, 2015

co-authored by Abraham J. Rein & Charles W. Spitz On Monday, November 2nd, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) took more enforcement steps in its campaign against Wi-Fi blocking – the practice of blocking unauthorized Wi-Fi hotspots that let consumers share mobile data access with other devices, like laptops and tablets – in hotels and convention ...

What You Should Know Before Monitoring Your Employees and Guests

by Lonnie Giamela in Human Resources, Legal, Lodging, Technology. Posted October 29, 2015

Co-authored by John Marvos Employees can make or break businesses in the service industry. While customer service oriented employees create a luxurious experience at a lesser establishment, employees that don’t prioritize customer service can ruin a guest’s experience even at the most finely-appointed hotel. However, managers and supervisors cannot always be present to recognize and ...

Legal ( Page 33 )