This program, cosponsored with the American Hospitality and Lodging Association, examines the latest trends, cases, and developments affecting the evolving practice of hospitality law. With so many national and international hospitality companies, along with vendors and lawyers serving those companies, now headquartered in the Washington, DC region, Georgetown Law is a natural venue for this exciting event. Starting with the General Counsel Roundtable featuring the GCs from Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group, Choice Hotels International, Inc., FelCor Lodging Trust, Strategic Hotels & Resorts, Inc. and Wyndham Worldwide Corporation and continuing with sessions analyzing the most critical topical issues facing owners and operators, this two-day seminar provides you with practical advice you can take back to your office and use the next day. This program was planned by a national advisory board of hospitality law professionals to guarantee that its subjects are topical and pragmatic and its speakers the most knowledgeable in the field.
Part Three:
1. Using audience-interactive technology and insights from ethics experts, this session explores “real life” ethics scenarios actually encountered by hotel counsel. Can you avoid the divided loyalties that occur when an attorney employed by a parent company is asked to represent a subsidiary adverse to the parent? What attorney-client privilege attaches to a disgruntled employee’s communications sent from the company email? Can an attorney’s advice to the controlling member of a joint venture inadvertently become advice to the other members of the venture? Is there a limit on communications with a represented adverse party for an in-house attorney who fills a non-legal role? Explore these and other questions relevant to practice within the hotel industry, including applications of ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct 1.6, 1.7, 1.8, 1.13, 4.2, and 4.3.
2. With an increase in class action lawsuits and recent pro-employee decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court, is it time to implement mandatory arbitration agreements with class action waivers for all employees? Panelists provide an overview of the rising causes of action in employment law and debate whether general counsels should follow the lead of several prominent hospitality employers and implement mandatory arbitration agreements.
3. This year, UNITE HERE and Hilton Worldwide, Inc. reached a long-term collective bargaining agreement that will apply to employees at Hilton-managed hotels in six cities in North America. UNITE HERE is now using that contract as a prototype for other union agreements. What are the features of the Hilton contract that make it attractive or unattractive for employers? How have the several circuit opinions overturning NLRB rulings affected the law and employer behavior for union and non-union employers? Panelists discuss the Hilton contract, debate its effect, and analyze the state of the NLRB and labor relations law in the Obama era.
Part Three Agenda:
8:30–9:45 am: Real Ethics of Hotel Country
10:15–11:30 am: Labor & Employment Law
Panel 1: 10:15-10:50 am: Can the New Hilton Contract "Modernize" Union Hotels?
Panel 2: 10:50–11:30 am: Is It Time for Mandatory Arbitration Agreements with Class Action Waivers?
Moderator and Faculty:
Jared Garner, Associate General Counsel, Americas, Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group
Banks Brown, General Counsel, American Hotel & Lodging Association; McDermott, Will & Emery LLP
Michael L. Chapman, General Counsel, Holland & Knight LLP
Raymond E. LaDriere II, Deputy General Counsel, Locke Lord LLP
Michael W. Robinson, Member, Virginia State Bar Ethics Committee; Venable LLP
Kimberly Wachen, Chair, Hospitality Industry Practice Group, Arent Fox LLP
Professor David Sherwyn, John and Melissa Ceriale Professor of Hospitality Human Resources, Cornell University School of Hotel Administration
Gregg A. Gilman, Davis & Gilbert LLP
Carolyn D. Richmond, Fox Rothschild LLP
David B. Ritter, Barnes & Thornburg LLP
Paul Ades, Senior Vice President of Labor Relations, Hilton Worldwide, Inc.
Greg Smith, Executive Vice President, People Services, Commune Hotels & Resorts
Paul E. Wagner, Stokes, Roberts & Wagner
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