Hospitality

  • April 12, 2024

    Feds Say Ga. Apartments Denied Wheelchair Accommodation

    Federal prosecutors on Thursday hit a Savannah, Georgia, apartment complex, a local housing authority and other defendants with a Fair Housing Act complaint alleging they denied a disabled resident an accessible apartment in spite of her repeated requests that they accommodate her disability.

  • April 12, 2024

    Hornblower Gets OK For Creditor Vote On Ch. 11 Plan

    A Texas bankruptcy judge on Friday sent Hornblower Holdings' Chapter 11 plan out for a creditor vote after hearing the cruise and tour operator had resolved creditor objections to its plan disclosure statement.

  • April 11, 2024

    Fla. Restaurateur Gets Prison Time For Dodging Payroll Taxes

    The ex-CEO of a defunct Jacksonville, Florida-based restaurant chain was sentenced to 2½ years in federal prison after pleading guilty earlier this year to willfully failing to pay more than $5 million in payroll taxes.

  • April 11, 2024

    $24M Hidden Fee Deal Between Class, AIG Units Gets 1st OK

    A California federal court granted preliminary approval of a nearly $24 million settlement between a class of travel insurance buyers and several AIG units resolving claims that the companies stacked hidden fees on top of insurance travel premiums.

  • April 10, 2024

    Texas Panel Seeks Evidence In $1M Real Estate Quagmire

    A Texas appellate panel suggested Wednesday that both sides fighting about a soured real estate financing deal need to do more to make their cases, asking attorneys during oral arguments to point to evidence that either confirms or refutes the existence of a contract.

  • April 10, 2024

    Cleaning Co. To Pay $400K In H-2B Workers' Exploitation Suit

    Mexican guest workers and a cleaning company that recruited them to work at a Colorado luxury hotel asked a federal judge on Wednesday to grant initial approval of a $400,000 settlement on claims that the company committed myriad wage and visa law violations and threatened to deport workers who complained.

  • April 10, 2024

    Pharmacy Gets Eli Lilly's Mounjaro Suit Tossed

    A Florida federal judge has thrown out Eli Lilly & Co.'s suit accusing an online pharmacy of wrongly selling a compounded version of its drug Mounjaro, saying Eli Lilly was "using state law to enforce the terms of" federal law.

  • April 10, 2024

    'Let's Get Physical': Pa. Justices Tune In To COVID-19 Coverage

    One of late singer Olivia Newton-John's greatest hits struck a chord with a Pennsylvania Supreme Court justice Wednesday as he considered whether insurers should cover business losses stemming from government shutdown orders during the COVID-19 pandemic 

  • April 10, 2024

    NBC, Universal Sued Over 'Harry Potter' Ride Malfunction

    Riders who were stuck for over an hour on a ride at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Universal Studios Hollywood that left them suspended midair have sued NBCUniversal and the theme park in California court, accusing them of negligently failing to safely maintain the attraction.

  • April 10, 2024

    KKR, Inovia Lead Rental Platform Guesty To $130M Series F

    Short-term rental platform Guesty said Erdinast Ben Nathan Toledano & Co. advised as it has raised $130 million in its Series F funding round in a bid to grow its reach, with representatives from new investors KKR and Inovia Capital joining the company's board.

  • April 10, 2024

    Blackwells Unveils Takeover Plans For Hospitality REIT

    Blackwells Capital told Braemar Hotels & Resorts Inc. investors on Wednesday that its intention to take the reins of the real estate investment trust's board of directors is necessary to stop a manager from "milking" the company for all it's worth.

  • April 10, 2024

    Starbucks Fired Barista For Having Panic Attack, Court Told

    A Starbucks manager berated a barista who suffered from anxiety and depression until he had a panic attack, then fired him, according to a suit filed in Florida federal court.

  • April 09, 2024

    9th Circ. Says Hotel, Restaurant Virus Losses Not Covered

    The Ninth Circuit on Tuesday said two groups of Washington state restaurants and hotels can't claim COVID-related business losses under their insurance policies because they failed to show they physically lost functional use of their properties as a result of the virus.

  • April 09, 2024

    Healthcare Co. Can't Sue Ex-Exec For Causing Canada Tax Hit

    A Colorado federal judge shot down a pharmacy automation company's suit alleging its former chief commercial officer cost it nearly CA$1.2 million ($907,000) in Canadian taxes by not telling his employer he had moved out of the country, saying the company hasn't shown it suffered any damage as a result.

  • April 09, 2024

    Hotel Owed Union Bargaining Over Renovation, DC Circ. Says

    A Hilton hotel in Alaska is on the hook for federal labor law violations after renovating rooms in a way that changed housekeepers' work conditions without sufficiently looping in the employees' union, the D.C. Circuit held Tuesday, enforcing a National Labor Relations Board decision.

  • April 09, 2024

    GM Rips 'Word Salad' Discovery Request, Fights Sanction Bid

    General Motors and its Detroit Renaissance Center told a Michigan federal judge Monday that guests of the center's Marriott hotel are unfairly demanding sanctions over allegedly unreasonable discovery requests, saying the businesses are making every effort to respond in a timely fashion to the "burdensome" interrogatories.

  • April 09, 2024

    Ex-DraftKings Exec Loses Bid For $310K In Atty Fees

    A California federal judge will not award the $310,000 in attorney fees a former DraftKings executive claims it cost to handle the ping-ponging of his lawsuit between federal and state court, ruling the removal at the behest of his ex-employer was "suspect" but not unreasonable.

  • April 08, 2024

    Red Robin Reaches $600K Deal To End EEOC Claims In Wash.

    Red Robin has agreed to pay $600,000 and bolster its anti-sexual harassment policies to end a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission lawsuit alleging a line cook in Washington state retaliated against female co-workers for objecting to his offensive comments, according to a proposed consent decree filed in federal court in Seattle.

  • April 08, 2024

    Mich. Judge Not Persuaded Wineries' Agritourism Is Speech

    A Michigan federal judge has found a local ban on wineries hosting weddings is not a commercial speech restriction despite the advertising potential of such events, again trimming a contentious zoning dispute ahead of trial. 

  • April 08, 2024

    Starbucks Drops TM Suit After Fake Websites Go Dark

    Starbucks has agreed to drop a trademark lawsuit claiming a pair of websites ripped off its "twin-tailed siren" logo and other brand material to sell fake franchise deals, saying in a recent Washington federal court filing that the allegedly unauthorized activity has stopped.

  • April 08, 2024

    Hormel Settling Pork Price-Fixing Claims For Over $11M

    Three plaintiff classes in the ongoing pork price-fixing litigation against Hormel Foods have reached preliminary settlements worth over $11 million with the company and are now asking the Minnesota federal judge overseeing the case to grant them initial approval.

  • April 08, 2024

    Atlantic City Hotels Say Gov't Backing Can't Save Pricing Suit

    Atlantic City casino-hotels continue to push a New Jersey federal judge to toss room rate price-fixing allegations they say get no help from a U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission intervening brief that argued algorithmic collusion is just as liable under antitrust law.

  • April 08, 2024

    Hotel Co. Comes Out On Top In Passover Fiasco Row 

    A bench trial over a "Passover celebration gone wrong" at a Pennsylvania hotel ended Friday largely in favor of the hotel operator, with $1,447.60 in contract damages for the caterer plaintiff offset by a $5,164.28 judgment in the hotel's favor for damages allegedly caused by guests who created plumbing issues.

  • April 08, 2024

    Royal Caribbean Settles Passenger's Suit Over Wife's Death

    Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. and the husband of a passenger who died of congestive heart failure while on a Mediterranean cruise opted Friday to settle their dispute over whether the cruise company had provided adequate medical care, avoiding a trial set to start Monday.

  • April 08, 2024

    3 Firms Build $2.3B Hospitality Biz SPAC Merger

    Singapore-headquartered Hotel101 Global Pte Ltd., a hotel prop-tech operator pioneering a standardized "condotel" business model, announced Monday that it plans to go public through a merger with blank-check company JVSPAC Acquisition Corp. in a deal built by three firms that will give it an equity value of $2.3 billion post-closing.

Expert Analysis

  • What The Law Firm Of The Future Will Look Like

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    As the legal landscape shifts, it’s become increasingly clear that the BigLaw business model must adapt in four key ways to remain viable, from fostering workplace flexibility to embracing technology, say Kevin Henderson and Eric Pacifici at SMB Law Group.

  • Navigating Class Actions After Papa John's Settlement Denial

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    A Kentucky federal court's surprising denial of preliminary approval for a $5 million settlement in the Papa John's no-poach case may prove to be an outlier but suggests a class action settlement would only be approved when a plaintiff demonstrates that a litigation class would be certified, say attorneys at Robins Kaplan.

  • 4 PR Pointers When Your Case Is In The News

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    Media coverage of new lawsuits exploded last year, demonstrating why defense attorneys should devise a public relations plan that complements their legal strategy, incorporating several objectives to balance ethical obligations and advocacy, say Nathan Burchfiel at Pinkston and Ryan June at Castañeda + Heidelman.

  • Law Firm Strategies For Successfully Navigating 2024 Trends

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    Though law firms face the dual challenge of external and internal pressures as they enter 2024, firms willing to pivot will be able to stand out by adapting to stakeholder needs and reimagining their infrastructure, says Shireen Hilal at Maior Consultants.

  • The Most-Read Legal Industry Law360 Guest Articles Of 2023

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    A range of legal industry topics drew readers' attention in Law360's Expert Analysis section this year, from associate retention strategies to ethical billing practices.

  • Attorneys' Busiest Times Can Be Business Opportunities

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    Attorneys who resolve to grow their revenue and client base in 2024 should be careful not to abandon their goals when they get too busy with client work, because these periods of zero bandwidth can actually be a catalyst for future growth, says Amy Drysdale at Alchemy Consulting.

  • In The World Of Legal Ethics, 10 Trends To Note From 2023

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    Lucian Pera at Adams and Reese and Trisha Rich at Holland & Knight identify the top legal ethics trends from 2023 — including issues related to hot documents, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity — that lawyers should be aware of to put their best foot forward.

  • Del. Dispatch: The 2023 Corporate Cases You Need To Know

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    Corporate and mergers and acquisitions litigation has continued at a fevered pace this year, with the Delaware courts addressing numerous novel issues with important practical implications, including officer exculpation and buyer aiding-and-abetting liability, say attorneys at Fried Frank.

  • 3 Developments That Will Affect Hospitality Companies In 2024

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    As the hospitality industry continues its post-pandemic recovery, it faces both challenges and opportunities to thrive in 2024, including navigating new labor rules, developing branded residential living spaces and cautiously embracing artificial intelligence, says Lauren Stewart at Sheppard Mullin.

  • How Attorneys Can Be More Efficient This Holiday Season

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    Attorneys should consider a few key tips to speed up their work during the holidays so they can join the festivities — from streamlining the document review process to creating similar folder structures, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.

  • Series

    Children's Book Writing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Becoming a children's book author has opened doors to incredible new experiences of which I barely dared to dream, but the process has also changed my life by serving as a reminder that strong writing, networking and public speaking skills are hugely beneficial to a legal career, says Shaunna Bailey at Sheppard Mullin.

  • 5 Traps To Avoid When Selling CRE In Las Vegas Area

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    When dealing with commercial real estate in Clark County, Nevada — which includes the Las Vegas metro area — even sophisticated sellers may be ensnared by a myriad of tricky issues, ranging from transfer tax nuances to arbitration laws, says Chris Walther at Fennemore Craig.

  • How Clients May Use AI To Monitor Attorneys

    Excerpt from Practical Guidance
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    Artificial intelligence tools will increasingly enable clients to monitor and evaluate their counsel’s activities, so attorneys must clearly define the terms of engagement and likewise take advantage of the efficiencies offered by AI, says Ronald Levine at Herrick Feinstein.

  • Series

    ESG Around The World: Singapore

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    Singapore is keen to establish itself as a leading international financial center and a key player in the sustainable finance ecosystem, and key initiatives led by its government and other regulatory bodies have helped the Asian nation progress from its initially guarded attitude toward ESG investment and reporting, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Series

    The Pop Culture Docket: Judge D'Emic On Moby Grape

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    The 1968 Moby Grape song "Murder in My Heart for the Judge" tells the tale of a fictional defendant treated with scorn by the judge, illustrating how much the legal system has evolved in the past 50 years, largely due to problem-solving courts and the principles of procedural justice, says Kings County Supreme Court Administrative Judge Matthew D'Emic.

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