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Published on:

6 December 2010

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Hotel ADA Defense & Compliance Lawyer on CASp: In our ADA Defense & Compliance blog of September 20, 2009, we let California hotel owners know why they should take advantage of the “Certified Access Specialists program” (CASp), a piece of legislation designed to curb abusive ADA litigation. See: ADA Hotel Lawyers: California opens door to more ADA litigation, but also offers protection to the well-informed.

However, a judge in the United States District Court, Eastern District of California determined, in O’Campo v. Chico Mall, LLP , that a “public accommodation” (such as a hotel) with CASp certification is not entitled to all benefits that were intended by the California Legislature.

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Published on:

2 October 2010

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The U.S. Attorney General has signed into law important revisions to the Department of Justice’s Regulations implementing the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The new 2010 Standards impose both technical requirements, (e.g. the specifications a property must meet to be fully accessible), and scoping requirements (e.g. the number of rooms or elements in a facility which must be fully accessible).

Hotel owners will need to review their facilities to ensure they are in compliance with the 2010 Standards and retrofit where necessary to meet them. Developers of new hotel properties will need assurances from their design and construction companies that the new obligations and restrictions are being worked into their plans.

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Published on:

Hotel Lawyers | Authors of www.HotelLawBlog.com
30 June 2010

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Hotel ADA defense lawyer looking beyond the latest update on ADA “sweeps” by the Department of Justice coming to Portland, San Francisco and elsewhere.

As we wrote earlier, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is continuing its program of in-depth investigations of hotels to determine whether they comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act or ADA. The investigations are called “sweeps” because they target all hotels in a given geographic area. There is also some basis to believe that the sweeps may now also focus on certain industries such as hotels, restaurants and other places of public accommodation.

There is a lot of valuable information on Hotel Law Blog about ADA Defense matters. Just go to the top of the Blog home page, click the “Hotel Law Topics” tab, and then select the first item named “ADA Defense.” You will see all the articles on this subject organized in reverse chronological order.

Although the sweeps sound an immediate call to action in the targeted areas and industries, there are broader implications that we will talk about today.

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Published on:

28 June 2010

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Hotel ADA defense lawyer with the latest update on ADA “sweeps” by the Department of Justice coming to Portland, San Francisco and elsewhere.

We discussed in earlier blogs that the DOJ is conducting in-depth investigations of hotels to determine whether they comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act or ADA. The investigations are called “sweeps” because they typically target all hotels in a given geographic area. One of the first notable ADA sweeps hit all the hotels in Manhattan’s Theater District, where we actively assisted clients.

A few days ago, we were contacted by a hotel in Portland, Oregon that had just received an investigative survey from DOJ. It appears that a similar sweep operation is being initiated there. We have also received information indicating that an ADA sweep might hit San Francisco in the near future.

Here is what you need to know about the sweeps, how they can affect you, and what you need to do.

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Published on:

15 June 2010

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Hotel ADA defense lawyer alert. LA judge sanctions ADA plaintiff and his lawyer.

Finally, there is a promising new development in California for beleaguered owners of hotels, restaurants and other commercial real estate. An ADA plaintiff and his lawyer were recently sanctioned for lack of merit and failure to perform due diligence prior to filing a lawsuit.

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Published on:

28 March 2010

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ADA Counsel with pragmatic advice: What does the ADA require hotel owners and managers to do for their disabled guests?

Hoteliers can face certain extreme situations that are not addressed in plain language of Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). In relevant part, it provides that, among other requirements, places of “public accommodation” must provide certain “auxiliary aides and services”. In these unusual cases, the counsel of an experienced ADA lawyer like Marty Orlick, a senior member of JMBM’s Global Hospitality Group®, is invaluable. He has helped numerous hotels and restaurant clients establish compliance with all aspects of the ADA and resolve more than 300 ADA claims.

Today, Marty provides some very practical advice on dealing with exceptional situations with disabled guests.

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Published on:

11 December 2009

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Even if you don’t have a hotel in Manhattan, you will want to know about the “Manhattan Hotels ADA Compliance Review Survey” conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). The DOJ’s reach is nationwide and other cities are targeted for the same kind of survey and enforcement.
In an interview on the Hotel Law Blog earlier this year, Coming to a Theater District Near You: The DOJ’s ADA “Survey,” my partner, Marty Orlick, described the sweeping scope of the DOJ’s ADA Compliance Review Survey of Manhattan hotels. In that interview, Marty emphasized that hoteliers who receive the questionnaire should be aware that DOJ investigators may have already been to their hotel — in fact, the DOJ’s sub rosa investigation may be why the hotel received the survey in the first place.

In today’s interview on the same topic, Marty explains what hotel owners and managers should do when they receive the DOJ’s ADA Compliance Review questionnaire in the mail. (First: take it very, very seriously.)

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Published on:

30 September 2009

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Americans with Disabilities (ADA) update. Why you need to take advantage of the “Certified Access Specialists program” (CASp)! Much needed new protection for property owners against ADA litigation even as California Supreme Court decision opens door to more ADA claims.
ADA Lawyer update. Worried about ADA claims? If not, you should be! There is a flood of private claims driven by evangelistic “true believers” and blackmail artists. The real tsunami is still coming. The government itself is initiating nationwide enforcement “sweeps” against hotels, and the California Supreme Court is making it more profitable and easier than ever to file ADA claims.

What can YOU do? Finally, there is something you can do to shield yourself against this ADA litigation threat in California. The CASp program is cost-effective and invaluable protection. Don’t wait until it is too late!

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Published on:

29 March 2009

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Hotel Lawyer and Timeshare Lawyer in Orlando at the ARDA Conference.

Hotel Lawyer: Exit strategies of repositioning can create ADA issues you need to watch. Timeshare lawyer David Sudeck is in Orlando at the ARDA Conference right now, comparing notes with others in the timeshare business. Many see conversion of hotel or condo projects to timeshare as an alternate exit strategy for their investment, but are missing some important issues, as he writes for www.HotelLawBlog.com.

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Published on:

Hotel Lawyers | Authors of www.HotelLawBlog.com
26 February 2009

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Hotel ADA Compliance and Defense Lawyers: ADAAG implementation delayed by Obama administration.

At www.HotelLawBlog.com, like most of our colleagues in the hotel and restaurant industries, we support the ADA’s purpose and intent to grant reasonable access to disabled persons. But the devil is always in the details. For example, it is one matter to build new facilities in compliance with current reasonable standards, but it is another matter to require a massive retrofit of existing facilities. And ambiguities in the law should not be used, with hindsight, to punish reasonable, good-faith attempts to comply. Critical “details” of great importance are the focus of proposed changes in the guidelines for ADA compliance.

We hope that the “hold” put on implementation of the new guidelines requested by President Obama means that the well-reasoned comments of the AH&LA and other concerned parties will be considered more seriously. See Hospitality Lawyer with urgent ADA warning: You won’t believe what they want to do with ADA now.

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