Hospitality and Leisure

Weil has broad-ranging, cross-border experience in the hospitality, leisure and gaming industries. Our experience includes representing buyers and sellers of hotel chains and individual premier hotels, resorts and casinos; hotel management companies in litigation and arbitration with owners, lenders and private equity firms with hotel interests, and hotels and casinos facing chapter 11 or out-of-court debt restructurings. We have also advised on managing operational risk in very challenging political and economic environments.

With a deep understanding of the legal and cultural issues specific to each market, we have extensive experience in advising our clients on a global basis in connection with their properties and operations located around the world. We have litigated and arbitrated disputes under all of the major arbitral regimes, under the governing laws of jurisdictions in North, Central and South America, the Middle East and North Africa, Europe and Asia. Our practice also advises clients on cross-border international transactions, and provides a full range of corporate, finance, real estate, litigation and international arbitration experience necessary for this constantly evolving sector.

We possess an excellent understanding of the industry and of the operational, business and legal issues that operators and their affiliates face in managing owner relations and mitigating risk.  Our experience includes representing clients in connection with:

• Negotiation of hotel management agreements
• Regulatory developments impacting the markets in which our clients compete
• All aspects of hotel operations
• Disputes between hotel operators and owners
• Relationships with key suppliers
• Collaborations with suppliers and/or competitors
• Negotiating with suppliers
• Claims involving government action
• Construction contracts
• Hotel property valuations
• Investment disputes
• Management agreement disputes
• Hotel deflaggings
• Real estate developments

We have extensive experience in the gaming and hospitality sectors – including both debtor and creditor representations in out-of-court restructurings, formal chapter 11 reorganizations, and other transactions.