Hospitality

If you’re in the hospitality industry, we think you’ll find our accommodations exceptional.

The business of hospitality is ever-changing and ever-expanding, posing legal hurdles each day to a diverse mix of small companies, regional and national brands, and multinational conglomerates. We should know—our hospitality attorneys have worked with industry players of all sizes in nearly every vertical, helping them launch, grow, and explore new and emerging opportunities.

Businesses Served

Our clients are found throughout the sector:

• Stand-alone restaurants and restaurant chains
• Hotels, resorts, and spas
• Food and beverage providers
• Entertainment, leisure, and recreational venues
• Golf and country clubs
• Gaming and amusement establishments
• Alcoholic beverage companies

Hospitality Legal Services & Experience

Our hospitality attorneys provide multifaceted legal representation and compliance counseling to owners, operators, managers, franchisors and franchisees, investors, manufacturers, suppliers, and vendors throughout the business life cycle. We regularly help clients:

• Raise capital and other funding
• Develop new properties, businesses, or concepts
• Comply with federal and state franchise laws
• Secure liquor licenses and business permits
• Navigate local, state, and federal regulations
• Enforce and monetize intellectual property
• Negotiate and/or draft contracts and licenses
• Comply with labor, employment, and tax regulations
• Acquire, merge with, dispose of, or raise capital for hospitality businesses or properties
• Protect the interests of lenders, secured creditors, and franchisors in bankruptcy and disputes over distressed real estate

Clients credit the strength of our practice to our hospitality attorneys’ skill, insight, and experience across an array of disciplines. For example:

• In real estate matters, our commercial real estate attorneys can handle various transactions including purchases, sales, and leases, and secure zoning approvals, variances, and land use permits.
• As outside general counsel, we draft routine contracts while also orchestrating private placements, public offerings, asset and stock transactions, tender offers, joint ventures, and strategic alliances.
• In the intellectual property arena, our copyright attorneys and trademark attorneys advise on copyright and trademark protection and promotion involving product and service names, menu items, franchising and licensing rights, signage, and internet activities, and we pursue clients’ rights in infringement, trade secret, and restrictive covenant claims.
• We represent clients across the labor spectrum, including union avoidance, collective bargaining, grievance handling, and arbitration.
• For employment-related matters, we conduct internal investigations, draft policies, provide management training, and ensure compliance with ordinances and regulations.
• We mitigate risk and exposure through negotiation and dispute resolution, and when necessary, appear in state and federal courts and administrative agencies to litigate employment-related claims and regulatory actions.

With our hospitality attorneys in offices across the United States, including Michigan, Illinois, Nevada, and California, Howard & Howard’s Hospitality Group has become the go-to resource for iconic hospitality or food & beverage brands known throughout the country and around the globe. Regardless of whether you’re an early-stage entrepreneur or a Fortune 500 corporation, if you’re in need of strategic business and legal counsel, our door is always open.