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Published on: January 30, 2013

Finally! Relief from abusive ADA litigation in California? Maybe not. . .

By JMBM Global Hospitality Group®

30 January 2013

Click here for the latest articles on ADA Compliance and Defense.

Hotel Lawyer talking about California’s new law aimed at ADA litigation reform.

ADA litigation claims have skyrocketed. Since January 2005, 16,530 ADA lawsuits — lawsuits alleging violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) — have been filed in federal courts across the country. Even more have been filed in state courts.

In the article below, two senior members of our Global Hospitality Group® talk about a new law passed in California with the goal of reducing abusive ADA litigation. Parts of this law became effective in September 2012, and the rest of it became effective January 1, 2013. Marty Orlick, Chair of JMBM’s ADA Compliance & Defense Group, and David Sudeck, hotel and timeshare lawyer, look at some of the key provisions of this new law and provide their observations about their impact.

Marty and David frequently work together to advise hotel and timeshare owners and operators in connection with Federal and State accessibility law compliance. In this article, they bring California business owners some insight into the likely effectiveness a well-intentioned new law intended to curb abusive ADA litigation.

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Published on: November 9, 2012

The hotel purchase and sale agreement — What is the value of the seller’s representations and warranties to a hotel buyer?

By Jim Butler and the Global Hospitality Group®

9 November 2012

Representations and warranties in the documentation of a hotel purchase and sale agreement (or agreement for purchase and sale of any type of hospitality property): What is the value of the seller’s representations and warranties? When does it matter?.

Hotels, restaurants, resorts, vacation ownership projects, spas, golf courses and other similar hospitality properties are different than most real estate. They involve operating businesses that are integrally intertwined with special purpose real estate.

So the documentation to buy or sell such a property (and business) needs to be different than that used for other commercial real estate. One of the areas that is most apparent is in the seller’s representation and warranties.

The article below is by hotel and timeshare lawyer David Sudeck, a senior member of JMBM’s Global Hospitality Group®, and someone very experienced in the purchase and sale of hotels, restaurants, resorts, vacation ownership projects, spas, golf courses and other similar hospitality properties. In a recent article, David wrote about representations and warranties in a purchase and sale agreement — what they are, what areas they cover, and what you want to get in a typical deal.

In this article, he writes about the value of these representations and warranties, hurdles to enforcing them and common terms used today.

This article is one of a series of insights that will be published initially as articles on the Hotel Law Blog at www.HotelLawyer.com and then they will be assembled into the HOW TO BUY A HOTEL handbook for our “We wrote the book™” series, much like the HMA Handbook and the Lenders Handbook for Troubled Hotels (see Resource Center at HotelLawyer.com for free copies).

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Published on: November 4, 2012

Seller representations and warranties in a hotel purchase agreement — What are the big issues today?

By Jim Butler and the Global Hospitality Group®

4 November 2012

Hotel Lawyer with some tips on buying a hotel or other hospitality property.

The article below is by hotel and timeshare lawyer David Sudeck, a senior member of JMBM’s Global Hospitality Group®, and someone very experienced in the purchase and sale of hotels, restaurants, resorts, vacation ownership projects, spas, golf courses and other similar hospitality properties. In this article he talks about representations and warranties — what they are, what areas they cover, and what you want to get in a typical deal.

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Published on: October 20, 2012

JMBM will be at the Boutique Lifestyle Leadership Symposium 2012

By Jim Butler and the Global Hospitality Group®

20 October 2012

The hotel lawyers of JMBM’s Global Hospitality Group® frequently attend hospitality industry conferences to stay current on critical issues affecting hotel owners, investors and lenders. My colleagues, Guy Maisnik, Bob Braun and David Sudeck will attend the Boutique Lifestyle Leadership Symposium in Los Angeles next week.

EXTENDED BODY:

Published on: May 29, 2012

ADA compliance and defense lawyer: ADA experts discuss hottest issues facing the hotel industry today

By Jim Butler and the Global Hospitality Group®

29 May 2012

Click here for the latest articles on ADA Compliance and Defense.

Hotel lawyer with latest insights from ADA experts on “ADA Compliance & Claims Prevention.”

At a recent gathering in Los Angeles, a group of ADA experts convened to discuss the hottest issues facing our industry. The panel was moderated by my colleague David Sudeck, who was kind enough to write an article for our readers summarizing some of the matters discussed. The PowerPoint presentation prepared by the panelists is also available by clicking here

There have been more than 15,000 ADA lawsuits filed in the United States. Failure to comply is expensive and bad for business. It is important to be ADA-friendly.

In addition, David Sudeck and Marty Orlick, have written articles and been featured on several webinars, on the topic of Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), as well as specifically on the new 2010 Regulations which came into effect in part on March 15, 2011 and in part on March 15, 2012 (other than the pool lift regulations, the implementation of which have been delayed, as discussed below). Please feel free to contact either one of them – dsudeck@jmbm.com (David Sudeck) or morlick@jmbm.com (Marty Orlick) for additional reference materials or if you would like to discuss your ADA compliance and defense questions.

Here is the summary of the panel discussion . . .

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Published on: November 21, 2011

ADA Defense & Compliance Lawyer: New ADA regulations kick in soon. Say goodbye to “grandfathering” under the ADA.

By Jim Butler and the Global Hospitality Group®

21 November 2011

Click here for the latest articles on ADA Compliance and Defense.

ADA Defense & Compliance Lawyers. Is your pool, spa and fitness facility compliant with the ADA 2010 Regulations? If you think your property is grandfathered, then you are wrong! There is no grandfathering.

As we mentioned in our recent posted article “Updating Service Animal Policies of Your Hotel,” the Department of Justice published revised final regulations implementing the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) for title III (public accommodations and commercial facilities) on September 15, 2010 (the “2010 Regulations”).

Based on the 2010 Regulations, all “Public Accommodations,” including “Places of Lodging” (hotels, resorts, most timeshares, restaurants, etc.) must bring certain elements of the facilities described below into compliance with the 2010 ADA Standards as of March 15, 2012.

No one is exempt.
There is no safe harbor.
The ADA’s “readily achievable” standard will apply.

If you are not already working on bringing your property into compliance, then you should call us to assist you with the creation of a compliance policy.

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Published on: October 3, 2011

Updating Service Animal Policies of Your Hotel or Other “Place of Lodging”

By Jim Butler and the Global Hospitality Group®

3 October 2011

Click here for the latest articles on ADA Compliance and Defense.

ADA Defense & Compliance Lawyers. What are some of the most common questions asked of our ADA Defense Lawyers? Many of them relate to “service animal” policies at hotels, restaurants and other places of public accommodation. One of the most read articles on Hotel Law Blog was a posting I did 5 years ago on this subject. Who’s crying “Woof”? What you must know about the ADA requirements for disabled guests and their service animals . . .

But with recent developments, we thought it was time to update that information with the effect of the latest amendments to the regulations on this subject published by the Department of Justice implementing the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Many thanks to hotel lawyers David Sudeck and Marty Orlick for their help on this article.

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Published on: September 20, 2011

Hospitality Lawyers in Phoenix for the 2011 Lodging Conference. What’s happening to the hospitality industry?

By Jim Butler and the Global Hospitality Group®

20 September 2011

Hotel Lawyer at the Phoenix Lodging Conference: Where are we going from here?

The Lodging Conference kicks off tonight at the Arizona Biltmore as roughly 1,500 hotel industry leaders gather for the next 3 days. This is one of my favorite hotel finance conferences of the year, and JMBM’s Global Hospitality Group® will be well represented. Senior GHG members Guy Maisnik, Cathy Holmes, Bob Braun, David Sudeck and I will all be here.

Aside from the great connections and catching up, the one thing everyone at this conference will be looking for is some sense on what happens to the hospitality industry from here. The first part of the year was robust transactionally speaking, with lots of hotels changing hands and pretty good financing for established hotels with good cash flow. But it seems like everyone got spooked a little in late August about the time Congress was deadlocked on a budget. Then the U.S. credit rating was downgraded, and the European debt crisis has continued to foment trouble, initially focused on Greece, but now more on Italy with its credit rating decrease, with concerned looks toward Spain and elsewhere.

On the one hand, one can argue that all this should have no affect on the hotel industry, at least in the United States. But the markets are unsettled and everyone seems to be taking a second look before they continue with business as it was earlier this year. And of course, the lodging industry has a long-term direct correlation with the economy. So, if the increasing pessimism pointing to an impending recession wins the day, we are all in for a bumpy ride.

I will be very interested to measure the mood of The Lodging Conference this year, and see how everyone else is viewing the current situation. Do we catch our breath and continue from roughly where we were, or do we hold our breath and get ready for a roller coaster ride? I may have some more insights for you shortly.

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Published on: July 11, 2011

Chinese Investment Group® — Hotels, Real Estate, EB-5 Immigrant Investor Visas

By Jim Butler and the Global Hospitality Group®

Click here for Simplified Chinese / 简体中文

Click here for Traditional Chinese /繁體中文

Formation of the Chinese Investment Group®

Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell LLP (JMBM) has announced the formation of the JMBM Chinese Investment Group® to provide legal and business advice for the specialized needs of Chinese investors and Chinese investment in the United States for hotel, real estate, EB-5 and other U.S. investments. We have a dedicated team with great experience for this kind of work.

Here is more information about how this development might help you. Click here to download a PDF of this announcement about the Chinese Investment Group®.

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Published on: July 1, 2011

華人酒店和房地產投資法律顧問集團™ — 酒店、房地產和EB-5投資移民

By Jim Butler and the Global Hospitality Group®

This document is in Traditional Chinese
Click here for English / 英文版

Click here for Simplified Chinese / 简体中文

華人酒店和房地產投資法律顧問團隊™ 是美國傑美百明律師所 JMBM Global Hospitality Group® 中一支致力於酒店和高端房地產專案的專業律師團隊。多年來，律師團隊為華人在美國的投資保駕護航，提供最優質的法律服務。我們律師所已經為客戶累計成交了總額高達870億美元的酒店業務，涉及全球範圍內3900處酒店。我們幫助華人投資者識別、分析、評估酒店和高端房地產機遇。同時，我們也可以為投資者尋求融資管道。我們鄭重承諾：為了保證我們的獨立性，我們絕不從任何開發商收取中間人傭金、獎勵費。

知名 客戶和酒店
美國傑美百明律師所（ JMBM ）與很多知名客戶擁有悠久的合作歷史，例如 Regent Hospitality Group 、特朗普公司、迪士尼度假俱樂部、 Hillwood Development (Ross Perot, Jr.) 、美高梅金殿夢幻、達拉斯之城。

我們的銀行客戶包括中國工商銀行、滙豐銀行、富國銀行、華美銀行、遠東國民銀行、德國北方銀行、瑞典銀行、加利福尼亞聯合銀行。

JMBM也在全球範圍內代表很多酒店開發商和業主，包括美國 W Hotels 以及麗思卡爾頓（Ritz-Carlton）混合使用專案的最大的開發商和業主。

在過去的 20多年中，我們律師團隊專注于服務酒店業主、投資方、開發方和貸款方。我們經常與主要酒店品牌合作。這其中包括萬豪、希爾頓、喜來登等60個品牌。其中不乏高端酒店，例如：四季酒店、東方文華酒店、費爾蒙、麗嘉、麗晶、萬麗、洲際大酒店。

華人投資和 EB-5投資移民簽證專案
我們的律師參與了華人在美國房地產投資以及EB-5投資移民簽證專案等，其中包括：

晶華國際酒店（一家位於臺灣的股份有限公司）收購麗晶大酒店（收購包括其全球範圍內的品牌權和在亞洲、歐洲、中東和加勒比的酒店管理協定）

深圳市新世界集團有限公司收購喜來登環球酒店

華人投資者投資 W好萊塢酒店（包括特色夜店和Delphine高檔餐館）

我們為美國華人投資者提供的服務
我們為華人投資者提供以下地產服務：

發現和評估酒店和高端房地產的投資商機

盡職調查

買賣交易的洽談

債務和股權融資

獲得政府批准和許可

稅務規劃

在獲得物業後，我們將在以下幾個方面為客戶提供服務：

商務合同和租賃協定的起草與審閱

雇傭和工作力事宜

法律和稅務事宜

在酒店投資領域，我們提供以下服務：

幫您聯繫高端酒店品牌（萬豪國際、希爾頓、喜達屋、洲際酒店、凱悅、麗晶、半島、四季酒店等等）

幫您取得市場最佳的合同條款（例如酒店冠名權和管理協定）

融資來源、施工經理人、運營者、品牌和專業顧問

我們為尋求 EB-5融資的客戶提供以下服務

EB-5專案實行可能性和盡職調查

政府獎勵，例如：新市場抵免所得稅、再開發代理集資

EB-5區域中心

確定目標雇傭區域

創業要求

確保州和當地政府對專案的支援

涉及向 EB-5投資人出售有限合夥利益企業的聯邦證券法

EB-5投資專案的結構化事宜

EB-5投資專案市場合同的協商

EB-5貸方和其他貸方之間貸款（以及中間債權人協定）

華人酒店和房地產投資法律顧問集團 ™律師
我們律師所的鄧威律師可以講漢語。華人酒店和房地產投資法律顧問集團™的律師及其聯繫資訊如下：

姓名	電子郵件信箱	專線
Mark S. Adams	MarkAdams@jmbm.com	+1 (949) 623-7230
Robert E. Braun	RBraun@jmbm.com	+1 (310) 785-5331
Jim Butler	JButler@jmbm.com	+1 (310) 201-3526
Wei Deng	WDeng@jmbm.com	+1 (310) 785-5371
Guy Maisnik	MGM@jmbm.com	+1 (310) 201-3588
Ben Reznik	BMR@jmbm.com	+1 (310) 201-3572
David A. Sudeck	DSudeck@jmbm.com	+1 (310) 201-3518

關於美國傑美百明律師所（ JMBM ）

美國傑美百明律師所（ JMBM ）為您提供最高品質的法律服務。詳細資訊請參考www.jmbm.com。

關於 JMBM Global Hospitality Group®

JMBM Global Hospitality Group® 已經為客戶累計成交了總額高達 870億美元的酒店業務，涉及全球範圍內3900處酒店。歡迎訪問www.HotelLawBlog.com或聯繫全球頂尖酒店律師Jim Butler ，電話 +1 (310) 201-3526 電子郵件jbutler@jmbm.com。

Jim Butler

Jim Butler is recognized as one of the top hotel lawyers in the world. He devotes 100% of his practice to hospitality, representing hotel owners, developers and lenders. Jim leads JMBM’s Global Hospitality Group® — a team of seasoned professionals who have helped clients around the world with more than 4,700 hospitality properties worth more than $125 billion.
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Robert Braun

Robert Braun is a partner in JMBM's Corporate Department and a senior member of JMBM's Global Hospitality Group® -- a team of seasoned professionals who have helped clients around the world with more than 4,700 hospitality properties worth more than $125 billion. Bob represents owners in both transactional and operational issues. He advises clients with respect to business formation, financing, mergers and acquisitions, venture capital financing, joint ventures and strategic partnerships. He has represented hotel owners in the negotiation of several hundred management agreements, as well as spa management and franchise agreements. Bob also advises hotel owners regarding telecommunications, software, internet, e-commerce, data processing and outsourcing agreements. To read Bob's articles, go to www.HotelLawBlog.com and select "Management Agreements." For more information, please contact Bob Braun at 310.785.5331 or rbraun@jmbm.com.

Marta Fernandez

Marta Fernandez is a partner in JMBM's Employment and Labor Department and a senior member of JMBM’s Global Hospitality Group® -- a team of seasoned professionals who have helped clients around the world with more than 4,700 hospitality properties worth more than $125 billion. As a management labor lawyer with more than 20 years of experience, Marta specializes in representing hospitality industry clients in all aspects of labor and employment including labor-management relations such as union prevention, collective bargaining for single as well as multi-employer bargaining units, neutrality agreements and defense of unfair labor practice charges before the NLRB. She defends employers in administrative and litigation claims, such as employee claims of sexual harassment and discrimination and counsels clients in preventative strategies such as executive training, arbitration enforcement, and policies and procedures. To read Marta's articles, go to www.HotelLawBlog.com and select "Labor & Employment." For more information, please contact Marta Fernandez at 310.201.3534 or at mfernandez@jmbm.com.

Guy Maisnik

Guy Maisnik is a partner in JMBM's Real Estate Department and a senior member of JMBM's Global Hospitality Group® -- a team of seasoned professionals who have helped clients around the world with more than 4,700 hospitality properties worth more than $125 billion. Guy's deep and broad transactional practice includes complex real estate finance and venture capital transactions, including project finance, commercial finance, leveraged leasing and real estate acquisitions. He assists clients with development, leasing and disposition, loan portfolio acquisitions, loan and debt restructure, workouts and real estate exchanges. Go to www.HotelLawBlog.com for current information in these areas. For more information, please contact Guy Maisnik at 310.201.3588 or mgm@jmbm.com.

David Sudeck

David Sudeck is a Partner in JMBM's Real Estate Department and a senior member of JMBM’s Global Hospitality Group® -- a team of seasoned professionals who have helped clients around the world with more than 4,700 hospitality properties worth more than $125 billion. David has significant experience in the vacation ownership arena, focusing on the formation and registration of condominiums, timeshares and fractional interest regimes. He negotiates hotel, spa and restaurant management agreements, and assists client in the development, acquisition, sale and leasing of hotels, golf courses and restaurants. For David's take on current issues in the timeshare arena, go to www.HotelLawBlog.com and click on the topic, "Timeshare." For more information, please contact David Sudeck at 310.201.3518 or dsudeck @jmbm.com.

Robert Kaplan

Robert Kaplan is a partner in JMBM's Bankruptcy, Insolvency and Restructurings Group and a senior member of the Global Hospitality Group® -- a team of seasoned professionals who have helped clients around the world with more than 4,700 hospitality properties worth more than $125 billion. Bob represents lenders, special servicers, hard money lenders, community banks, national banking associations, distressed debt investors, and equity investors, positioning them for the best possible outcome by acting expeditiously to preserve value and increase cash flow. His industry experience and his knowledge of the current capital markets -- where distressed assets often include complex deal structures and securitized loans -- allows him to bring creative and effective strategies to the table. When aggressive litigation is the best strategy, he is a vigorous and effective advocate for his clients. Bob represented the securitized lender in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy case filed by the Clift Hotel in San Francisco, and in the subsequent negotiations and successful sale of the loan to a third party. The lender -- acting by and through GMAC Commercial Mortgage Corporation as special servicer -- was the holder of a $60 million loan secured by a Deed of Trust on the Clift Hotel. He has also served as counsel to CapMark, J.E. Robert Company, Inc., AMRESCO Management Inc. and Midland Loan Servicer in their capacity as special servicers on troubled hotel loans in CMBS pools. For more information, contact Robert Kaplan at 415.984.9673 or rkaplan@jmbm.com.

Martin Orlick

Martin Orlick is a partner in JMBM's Real Estate Department and a senior member of JMBM's Global Hospitality Group® -- a team of seasoned professionals who have helped clients around the world with more than 4,700 hospitality properties worth more than $125 billion. Marty specializes in representing hospitality industry clients in Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance and defense. He has represented more than 500 businesses in ADA issues, many of them hotels and restaurants, as well as hotel mixed-use properties. Marty is a member of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers (ACREL) and a frequent speaker on the ADA and other topics. To read Marty's articles, go to www.HotelLawBlog.comand select "ADA." For more information, please contact Marty Orlick at 415.984.9667 or morlick@jmbm.com.

Scott Brink

Scott Brink is a senior member of JMBM's Global Hospitality Group® and a partner in JMBM's Labor & Employment Law Department. Scott is a management labor lawyer with more than two decades of experience representing employers in all aspects of labor relations and employment law including union prevention, collective bargaining negotiations, defense of unfair labor practice charges before the NLRB, wrongful discharge litigation, individual and class action employment discrimination and wage-and-hour claims, sexual-harassment litigation, arbitrations, personnel policies, California wage and hour law, and employee discipline and discharge. An experienced trial attorney, Scott has litigated a number of high-profile and complex cases involving a wide range of labor and employment law matters. For more information, contact Scott Brink at RSB@jmbm.com or 310.785.5365.

Travis Gemoets

Travis Gemoets is an experienced trial attorney and represents management in all facets of labor and employment law, including wage/hour class actions, claims of discrimination, harassment, wrongful termination, trade secrets and unfair competition, union/management relations and workplace violence. He is a member of JMBM's Global Hospitality Group(r), in which capacity he negotiates union contracts and resolves labor disputes throughout the country, defends class action claims, develops strategies for the mass onboarding and separation of employees, and recommends proactive changes to employers' policies and practices in order to minimize potential liability risks. Reach him at 310.785.5387 or tgemoets@jmbm.com.

Mark S. Adams

Mark S. Adams is an experienced trial lawyer and a member of JMBM's Global Hospitality Group® and Chinese Investment Group™. He focuses his practice on business litigation including contracts, corporate and partnership disputes, and hospitality disputes and litigation. On behalf of hotel and resort owners, Mark has successfully litigated the termination of long-term, no-cut, hotel management agreements, franchise agreements, fiduciary duty issues, investor-owner disputes, TOT assessments, and more. He has wide-ranging trial experience in a variety of commercial disputes, including complex multi-party litigation and class actions. He has tried numerous cases in state courts, federal courts, and in domestic and international arbitrations, and is a frequent author and speaker on trial practice. Mark's trial wins have been covered by Forbes, Reuters, and other publications. He has obtained two of California's annual 50 largest jury verdicts in the same year. Mark has taken or defended nearly 1,000 depositions throughout North America, Europe and the Middle East. He has been quoted as an expert on noncompete agreements in the Wall Street Journal. For more information, contact Mark at 949. 623.7230 or markadams@jmbm.com.

Bennett Young

Bennett Young is a partner in JMBM's Bankruptcy, Insolvency and Restructurings Group and a senior member of the Global Hospitality Group® -- a team of seasoned professionals who have helped clients around the world with more than 4,700 hospitality properties worth more than $125 billion. His clients include lenders, financial institutions, secured and unsecured creditors, distressed investment funds, businesses, receivers, special servicers and creditors' committees. Ben represented the owner of a partially completed multi-billion dollar resort property in the restructuring of its finances and has represented lenders to hotels and casinos. For more information, contact Ben Young at 415.984.9626 or byoung@jmbm.com

Sheri Bonstelle

Sheri Bonstelle is a partner in JMBM's Government, Land Use, Environment and Energy Department, and a member of JMBM's Global Hospitality Group®. She represents owners and developers in land use, zoning, environmental, litigation and construction matters. She manages all aspects of the entitlement process, including representing clients before local and state agencies, commissions and councils. Sheri also represents clients in a variety of land use and real estate litigation matters in state and federal courts, including cases arising under CEQA and other environmental laws. Her hotel experience includes handling the adaptive reuse of an historic office building as a luxury boutique hotel. For more information, please contact Sheri Bonstelle at 310.712.6847 or SBonstelle@jmbm.com.

Kevin McDonnell

Kevin McDonnell is a partner in JMBM's Government, Land Use, Environment and Energy Department, and a member of JMBM's Global Hospitality Group®. Kevin represents developers and owners of hotels in a broad range of land use and zoning issues including entitlements, code enforcement, easements and parking requirements, as well as related Parcel Map and Tract Map subdivision issues. His hospitality experience includes hotels, condo-hotels and mixed-use projects. A registered Civil Engineer and Structural Engineer in California, and a former building official for the City of Los Angeles, Kevin brings unique experience and insight in Zoning and Building Code applications and Code Enforcement issues. For more information, please contact Kevin McDonnell at 310.201.3590 or kkm@jmbm.com.

Jamie Ogden

Jamie Ogden is a tax lawyer at Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell LLP. He advises individuals and businesses on a range of tax planning, tax controversy and estate planning matters. Jamie’s experience includes all tax aspects with respect to the hospitality industry, including acquisitions and dispositions (including Section 1031 exchanges), financing and management agreements. He also serves as lead tax counsel on M&A transactions, financing, internal corporate restructurings and deferred compensation matters. Jamie also works frequently with litigators on the tax aspects of litigation, judgments and settlements. Jamie has extensive experience with foreign compliance matters, including each variation of the IRS amnesty programs. In addition to his experience in private practice, Jamie also brings several years of service from both state and federal government. For more information, contact Jamie at JOgden@jmbm.com or 310.201.3510.

Jay Thompson

Jay Thompson has extensive experience representing private companies, business owners, family offices and investors in mergers and acquisitions, private equity and venture capital transactions and private securities offerings. Jay serves as general counsel to many of his clients, their management, and board of directors, helping to shape and execute their business strategies, facilitate growth and liquidity, as well as to advise them on day-to-day legal and other strategic issues. He is known for his practical approach to business issues. Contact Jay at JThompson@jmbm.com or 949.623.7258

Marianne Martin

Marianne Martin has nearly fifteen years of experience advising clients on a variety of commercial, financing, bankruptcy, restructuring and M&A matters, with a particular niche dealing with distressed and/or turnaround situations. Her clients frequently include private equity and hedge funds, independent sponsors, family offices, public and private corporations, financial institutions and banks, healthcare-related companies, municipalities and venture capital funds. She has represented clients in various capacities, including as borrowers/debtors, lenders, acquirers, and agents/trustees in negotiating and documenting complex commercial transactions, out-of-court restructuring transactions and advising on purchasing considerations in secondary market debt transactions. Contact Marianne at MMartin@jmbm.com or 310.201.3531

Trevor Countryman

Trevor Countryman is an associate in the firm's Real Estate Department. He advises clients in all aspects of real estate transactions including property acquisitions and dispositions, financing, leasing, development and construction. Trevor's clients range from large funds to individual developers and opportunistic investors, engaged in deals involving office, retail, multi-family, single-family, mixed-use and hotel properties. Contact Trevor Countryman at 310.201.3546 or TCountryman@jmbm.com.

Vanessa Han

Vanessa Han is an associate in JMBM's Corporate group. Vanessa can be reached at VHan@jmbm.com or 310.785.5383

Vince Farhat

Vince Farhat is Chair of JMBM's White Collar Defense and Investigations practice. Vince has extensive jury trial experience and focuses his practice on representing companies and individuals in criminal and civil investigations and prosecutions by government enforcement agencies, as well as complex federal litigation. He also advises companies in connection with complex and sensitive internal investigations. Prior to joining JMBM, Vince served as an assistant United States attorney in the Major Frauds Section of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California. Contact Vince Farhat at 310.785.5382 or VFarhat@jmbm.com.

Sarah G. Hartman

Sarah G. Hartman is a partner in JMBM's Litigation Group and a member of JMBM's Global Hospitality Group® -- a team of seasoned professionals who have helped clients around the world with more than 4,700 hospitality properties worth more than $125 billion. Sarah is an experienced litigator who advises and represents clients through all aspects of litigation, from inception through trial and appeal. She advises and represents clients in the hospitality industry, including the termination of hotel management agreements and franchise agreements. Sarah also advises and represents clients on women's health technology issues, intellectual property matters, and complex commercial disputes, including breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, breach of contract, unfair competition, products liability, employment litigation, class action defense, false advertising and other complex financial disputes. Contact Sarah Hartman at 949.623.7243 or SGHartman@jmbm.com.

Michael H. Strub, Jr.

Michael H. Strub, Jr. is a partner in JMBM's Litigation Group and a member of JMBM's Global Hospitality Group® -- a team of seasoned professionals who have helped clients around the world with more than 4,700 hospitality properties worth more than $125 billion. He is a highly skilled trial and appellate attorney who has handled high-stakes, complex commercial and business cases for 30 years including disputes arising out of hotel construction, lending, and bankruptcy. In addition, he has represented plaintiffs and defendants in business and commercial disputes in a variety of areas. Contact Michael H. Strub, Jr. at 949.623.7233 or MStrub@jmbm.com.

Ask the Hotel Lawyer™ is a quarterly column that I write for JMBM's Global Hospitality Advisor®. If you have a question you would like to submit to Ask the Hotel Lawyer™ please use the comments box below. While your question may not be of sufficient general interest for the column, I will try to respond to you individually if you leave your contact information below.
Jim Butler.