Press Release
March 6, 2019

Holland & Knight Receives “Hospitality Group of the Year” Award from Law360 for Second Year in a Row

MIAMI (March 6, 2019) – Holland & Knight has been named "Hospitality Group of the Year" by Law360 for the second consecutive year. The firm received this honor as part of the legal news service's annual Practice Group of the Year awards, which recognize the law firms behind the litigation wins and major deals that resonated throughout the legal industry in the past year. Winners were selected in 38 practice areas.

In a profile on the firm, Law360 noted that Holland & Knight's Hospitality, Resort and Timeshare Group worked on several major deals for their clients in 2018, including helping Marriott with its takeover of the Trump International Hotel & Tower Panama, which was converted to a JW Marriott hotel. The firm also assisted Marriott in negotiations on hotel management agreements that will see Flag Luxury Group develop a $500 million Ritz-Carlton hotel and residence tower project in New York City's NoMad neighborhood.

Projects combining a residential element with a hotel in a mixed-use development continue to be a strong focus for both the hospitality industry and the firm, Stacie Goeddel, the partner who led Holland & Knight's representation in the rebranding matter, told Law360. "There is a lot of new product in the pipeline. People keep thinking it'll slow down, but the amount of hotels in the pipeline have been consistent, if not growing, over the past four or five years," she said.

Law360 also reported that Holland & Knight is actively involved in the timeshare sector, including advising a Blackstone Group subsidiary on a $157 million securitization of timeshare receivables for the Las Vegas vacation ownership resort operating as Elara, a Hilton Grand Vacations Club Resort, the first such timeshare securitization for Blackstone at the Las Vegas resort. In another major deal, the firm represented IREP Newbury Hotel LLC in its $299 million purchase of the Taj Hotel in Boston.

Holland & Knight has lately seen a number of transactions featuring hotel companies such as Marriott, Hilton and IHG licensing their brand names and trademarks to timeshare companies under a long-term license agreement, according the Law360. "It's just an interesting linkage between the hotel and timeshare industries, and we obviously have a number of lawyers representing clients in both industries so we have substantial expertise in this area," said Jeffrey Stern, who co-chairs the firm's Hospitality, Resort and Timeshare Group.

Read the entire profile here.

About the Hospitality, Resort and Timeshare Group: Holland & Knight's Hospitality, Resort and Timeshare Group has served the hospitality industry for more than 30 years. Its dedicated team of approximately 60 lawyers works collaboratively to address all the legal needs of developers, lenders and owners in every industry segment, including hotels, resorts, timeshare and fractional projects, golf and membership clubs, restaurants, theme parks, casinos, cruise lines and more.

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