Hotels & Resorts: Management & Franchise Agreements (LAW-951-001)
Nelson Migdal
Meets: 08:30 AM - 06:00 PM (WTh) - Capital - Room C217
Enrolled: 10 / Limit: 22
Notices
For more information, contact Program Director, Steven Shapiro, sshapiro@wcl.american.edu.
Description
For a hotel guest, the visit is often a seamless series of selecting the hotel, making a reservation, checking-in and staying at the property, then paying for the stay. In fact, the hotel industry, in its current evolution, is an intricate series of parties acting in concert and pursuant to law and legal agreements: (i) hotel properties are developed, designed, and built by a real estate developer; (ii) the hotel company creates brands and operating standards, customer loyalty programs, and sophisticated reservations systems; and (iii) management companies, often third parties, operate the hotel. Hotel law is a sophisticated blend of commercial and real estate law, with deep layers of traditional commercial topics. There are many complex transactional legal issues governing management and franchise agreements, plus issues in intellectual property, labor & employment law, and datasecurity. As a result, there are enduring legal relationships that span advanced topics in the law school curriculum. These business models are bounded by sophisticated legal agreements with terms and conditions that cannot be easily altered or terminated. In the absence of a clear understanding of the essential elements of lodging operations, shifting economic forces and legal nuances can produce unanticipated results and dramatically unequal economic relationships. The Hospitality & Tourism Law program offers classroom sessions with general counsel attorneys from the largest hotel companies and partners from Big Law, teaching alongside hotel general managers and senior hotel leadership. The courses combine the essential elements of law in relief against the realities and economics of practice. Students participate in discussions and visit hotels and corporate headquarters to gather insights into the forces and operations that the industry. The HTL curriculum offers comprehensive courses, including: (i) Introduction to Hotel Law (LAW 950); (ii) Management Agreements & Franchise Agreements (951); (iii) Advanced Topics in Hotel Law (953); and (iv) Hotel Transactions and Contract Drafting (954).
Textbooks and Other Materials
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First Class Readings
Not available at this time.
Syllabus
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Adobe Acrobat (PDF)