Hospitality

December 18, 2025
Hilton's $70M Tax Value Cut Appealed To Minn. Supreme Court

Drops in the tax valuations of a Hilton hotel and convention center in Minneapolis, including a $70 million cut during one year, were wrongly ordered by the Minnesota Tax Court, the local assessor said, urging the state Supreme Court to review the case.
December 17, 2025
Avis Did Not Waive Arbitration In Traffic Fines Suit: 3rd Circ.

The Third Circuit has concluded that Avis did not waive its right to arbitrate a long-running class action over traffic fines incurred during a rental with certain members of the class by continuing to litigate the dispute years after incorporating an arbitration clause in its rental agreement.
December 17, 2025
LSU Districts' Taxes Challenged For Not Getting Voter OK

A former Louisiana councilperson filed a suit against two economic improvement districts associated with Louisiana State University on Wednesday, saying the jurisdictions failed to get taxpayer approval before raising sales taxes.
December 17, 2025
Great American Says Cryo Unit Co. Hid Facts In Getting Policy

Insurer Great American has gone to California federal court asserting that it doesn't owe coverage to a cryotherapy unit seller for an underlying lawsuit involving an alleged injury in a hyperbaric chamber at the company's subsidiary, arguing that the cryotherapy company never told the insurer it had a subsidiary.
December 17, 2025
Chancery OKs $10M Fat Brands Settlement, Defers Fees

A judge in the Delaware Chancery Court on Wednesday approved a proposed settlement resolving two long-running shareholder derivative suits against Fat Brands Inc. and its controlling stockholder, finding that the deal delivers immediate cash, targeted governance reforms and a realistic recovery in light of substantial litigation and collectibility risks, while reserving judgment on a disputed request for attorney fees.
December 16, 2025
American Bridge Hit With $4.8M Sanction For Discovery Abuse

A Washington state judge has slapped American Bridge Co. with $4.8 million in monetary sanctions and found the steel subcontractor and its counsel at Smith Currie Oles LLP on the hook for additional legal fees for "widespread discovery abuses" throughout a court battle with a general contractor over delays in a Seattle convention center project.
December 16, 2025
Six Flags Can't Escape Privacy Suit Over Website Tracking

A California federal judge has refused to release Six Flags Entertainment Corp. from a proposed class action accusing it of illegally allowing third parties to track the browsing activities of visitors to its Cedar Point amusement park website, finding that the plaintiff had sufficiently asserted an array of claims for invasion of privacy, wiretap, fraud and unjust enrichment.
December 16, 2025
Insurer Needn't Cover Casino Assault Dispute, NJ Panel Says

A home insurer had no duty to defend or indemnify a man accused of injuring another man during an altercation at an Atlantic City casino, a New Jersey state appeals court affirmed Tuesday, finding that the incident did not constitute an occurrence.
December 12, 2025
National Trust Sues To Halt Trump's Ballroom Construction

The National Trust for Historic Preservation asked a D.C. federal judge to stop construction on a White House ballroom until Trump administration officials complete mandatory review processes that they blew off before unilaterally razing the East Wing to make room for the structure.
December 12, 2025
Mass. Restaurants Settle OT Claims For $225K

Two Massachusetts eateries have agreed to pay a total of $225,000 to resolve the government's allegations that they failed to pay workers for overtime hours and tried to prevent them from speaking with U.S. Department of Labor representatives investigating possible labor violations, according to a consent judgment entered Friday in federal court.
December 12, 2025
2nd Circ. Remands $100K Award To Fired Atty In Bias Case

A Second Circuit panel vacated a $100,000 charging lien awarded to an attorney who represented a man who sued Marriott International Inc. for race-based harassment, agreeing that the lawyer was fired without cause but finding that the lower court appeared not to address several arguments in favor of a lower amount.
December 12, 2025
Goldberg Segalla Adds Hospitality Pro In Orlando

Goldberg Segalla LLP picked up a new special counsel for its retail and hospitality group in Orlando from Pozo-Diaz & Pozo PA.
December 11, 2025
9th Circ. Won't Rethink Vegas Hotels' Win In Price-Fixing Suit

The Ninth Circuit on Dec. 11 rejected Las Vegas hotel guests' request for the full appeals court to reconsider a panel's August ruling that threw out their proposed class action accusing the casino-hotel operators of using software to illegally inflate room rates.
December 11, 2025
Split Pa. Panel Blocks Police Reports On Liquor Licensee

A trial court was wrong to deny a Philadelphia establishment's appeal for renewal of its liquor license, since nearly a dozen police reports the court considered should have been excluded as hearsay, a split appellate panel said Thursday.
December 11, 2025
Marriott's $175K Deal Wraps Up EEOC Religious Bias Suit

A Florida federal judge has approved a $175,000 deal to end a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission suit claiming hotel giant Marriott unlawfully required a Seventh-day Adventist employee to work on her Sabbath, the agency said Thursday.
December 10, 2025
Starbucks DEI Goals Are 'Race-Based Quotas,' Fla. AG Claims

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier is accusing coffee giant Starbucks Corp. of violating state civil rights protections in its efforts to promote an inclusive workforce, claiming in a state lawsuit Wednesday that the company's diversity, equity and inclusion policies "cross the line into illegal, race-based quotas."
December 10, 2025
Boardwalk Pipeline Case Sees Partial Reversal

The Delaware Supreme Court on Wednesday partially revived long-running challenges to Loews Corp.'s 2018, $1.5 billion cash-out of Boardwalk Pipeline Partners LP, ruling that the Chancery Court misread the high court's 2022 guidance and prematurely shut down minority unitholder claims attacking the legal opinion that triggered the buyout.
December 10, 2025
Tribal Casino Must Face 401(k) Fee Suit Over High Costs

A tribal hospitality and casino company must face a suit claiming its 401(k) retirement plan was bogged down by exorbitant costs and underperforming investment options, following a New York federal judge's refusal to toss the proposed class action.
December 10, 2025
Denial Of Benefits Clause Key In Nixing $214M Ecuador Claim

An international tribunal concluded that Ecuador was entitled to deny treaty protections to a Nevada company that initiated a $214 million investor-state claim over a gambling ban enacted in 2011 because the company did not have substantial business activities in the U.S., according to the now-public award.
December 10, 2025
Trans Woman Sues Hilton Over Security Guard Sex Assault

A transgender woman is suing Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. and its affiliates in Texas state court, alleging she was sexually assaulted by a security guard who later used hotel records to find her phone number and send unwanted, sexually explicit videos.
December 09, 2025
McDonald's Narrows Fired Worker's Sex Harassment Suit

An ex-McDonald's worker failed to show she was fired for complaining that a co-worker sexually harassed her, an Illinois federal judge ruled, cutting claims from a proposed class action that the fast food giant often retaliated against workers who reported on-the-job sexual harassment.
December 08, 2025
Royal Caribbean Negligent In Passenger Death, Family Says

Royal Caribbean crewmembers negligently overserved a man alcohol and later used excessive force to restrain him, the family of the man who died on board one of the company's cruise ships told a Florida federal court.
December 08, 2025
Trump Admin Backs Exxon In Cuba Property Seizure Case

The Trump administration is pressing the U.S. Supreme Court to rule in favor of Exxon Mobil Corp. and find that a federal law allowing U.S. victims of property seizures by the Cuban government to seek damages from entities that subsequently used the property abrogates the sovereign immunity of Cuban agencies and instrumentalities.
December 08, 2025
Calif. Tribe Looks To Nix Suits Against $700M Casino Approval

A California tribe is asking a D.C. federal court to dismiss three challenges to a U.S. Department of the Interior decision to place 160 acres into trust for its $700 million hotel and casino project, arguing that the consequences of denying its intervention in the litigation would be "grave and severe."
December 08, 2025
NY Hotel Ordered To Pay $4.1M In Union Benefits Dispute

A Manhattan hotel operator must hand over $4.1 million to a hotel and hospital workers union, a New York federal judge ruled, finding that the operator has failed to respond to accusations that it owes money to multiple health benefit funds.

Editor's Picks

Foley Reps Hospitality REIT In $260M Buy Of Texas Property

Foley & Lardner LLP said it has represented real estate investment trust Ryman Hospitality Properties Inc. in its $260 million acquisition of the Block 21 mixed-use development complex that occupies an entire city block in downtown Austin, Texas.

Expert Analysis

Reviewing 2025's Most Pertinent Wiretap Developments

2025 was a remarkable year in the world of web tracking wiretapping litigation, not only for the increased caseload but also because of numerous developing theories of liability, with disputes expected to continue unabated in 2026, say attorneys at Squire Patton.
Series

Nature Photography Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Nature photography reminds me to focus on what is in front of me and to slow down to achieve success, and, in embracing the value of viewing situations through different lenses, offers skills transferable to the practice of law, says Brian Willett at Saul Ewing.
Series

Law School's Missed Lessons: Practical Problem Solving

Issue-spotting skills are well honed in law school, but practicing attorneys must also identify clients’ problems and true goals, and then be able to provide solutions, says Mary Kate Hogan at Quarles & Brady.
Opinion

A Uniform Federal Rule Would Curb Gen AI Missteps In Court

To address the patchwork of courts’ standing orders on generative artificial intelligence, curbing abuses and relieving the burden on judges, the federal judiciary should consider amending its civil procedure rules to require litigants to certify they’ve reviewed legal filings for accuracy, say attorneys at Shook Hardy.
AG Watch: Texas Junk Fee Deal Shows Enforcement Priorities

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's recent $9.5 million settlement with online travel agency website Booking Holdings for so-called junk fee practices follows a larger trend of state attorneys general who have taken similar action and demonstrates the significant penalties that can follow such allegations, say attorneys at Kelley Drye.
Series

The Law Firm Merger Diaries: Integrating Practice Groups

Enacting unified leadership and consistent client service standards ensures law firm practice groups connect and collaborate around shared goals, turning a law firm merger into a platform for growth rather than a period of disruption, says Brian Catlett at Fennemore Craig.
Patent Disclaimers Ruling Offers Restriction Practice Insights

The Federal Circuit's recent decision in Focus Products v. Kartri confirms that prosecution disclaimers can extend to examiner-defined species in restriction practice, making it important for patent practitioners to manage restriction requirement responses carefully to avoid unintended claim scope limitations, say attorneys at BCLP.
Opinion

Supreme Court Term Limits Would Carry Hidden Risk

While proposals for limiting the terms of U.S. Supreme Court justices are popular, a steady stream of relatively young, highly marketable ex-justices with unique knowledge and influence entering the marketplace of law and politics could create new problems, say Michael Broyde at Emory University and Hayden Hall at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.
Series

Knitting Makes Me A Better Lawyer

Stretching my skills as a knitter makes me a better antitrust attorney by challenging me to recalibrate after wrong turns, not rush outcomes, and trust that I can teach myself the skills to tackle new and difficult projects — even when I don’t have a pattern to work from, says Kara Kuritz at V&E.
Series

The Biz Court Digest: Welcome To Miami

After nearly 20 years in operation, the Miami Complex Business Litigation Division is a pioneer upon which other jurisdictions in the state have been modeled, adopting many innovations to keep its cases running more efficiently and staffing experienced judges who are accustomed to hearing business disputes, say attorneys at King & Spalding.
AI Evidence Rule Tweaks Encourage Judicial Guardrails

Recent additions to a committee note on proposed Rule of Evidence 707 — governing evidence generated by artificial intelligence — seek to mitigate potential dangers that may arise once machine outputs are introduced at trial, encouraging judges to perform critical gatekeeping functions, say attorneys at Lankler Siffert & Wohl.
Series

The Law Firm Merger Diaries: Getting The Message Across

Communications and brand strategy during a law firm merger represent a crucial thread that runs through every stage of a combination and should include clear messaging, leverage modern marketing tools and embrace the chance to evolve, says Ashley Horne at Womble Bond.
Opinion

Horizontal Stare Decisis Should Not Be Casually Discarded

Eliminating the so-called law of the circuit doctrine — as recently proposed by a Fifth Circuit judge, echoing Justice Neil Gorsuch’s concurrence in Loper Bright — would undermine public confidence in the judiciary’s independence and create costly uncertainty for litigants, says Lawrence Bluestone at Genova Burns.
10 Commandments For Agentic AI Tools In The Legal Industry

Though agentic artificial intelligence has demonstrated significant promise for optimizing legal work, it presents numerous risks, so specific ethical obligations should be built into the knowledge base of every agentic AI tool used in the legal industry, says Steven Cordero at Akerman LLP.
Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: December Lessons

In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses recent rulings and identifies practice tips from cases involving securities, takings, automobile insurance, and wage and hour claims.