User:Tpasric/sandbox/Hospitality & Tourism Law Program American University, Washington College of Law

The Hospitality & Tourism Law Program (HTL) is a specialized law program at the American University, Washington College of Law (WCL), a private law school located in Washington, D.C. Approved in 2012, HTL remains the sole law program devoted to the economics and legal foundation of the hotel industry. The HTL curriculum includes topics in hotel management and franchise agreements, resorts and gaming, and drafting purchase and sale of hotel properties.[3] Students come from WCL and law schools across the nation, plus students are invited to join for continuing legal education and general education in the hospitality industry. In 2016, The National Jurist magazine named HTL as a top 10 summer legal program.

History
HTL was in large part imagined and created by professor Steven Shapiro, then put into place by a board of advisors of hotel law attorneys, industry executives, and related professionals. The Washington, D.C. region has been the longtime home of Marriott International and Choice Hotels, plus Hilton Worldwide relocated its headquarters from Southern California to Northern Virginia, and Ritz-Carlton moved its headquarters from Atlanta to Chevy Chase, Maryland. In 2011, Steven, along with Nelson Migdal, a noted hotel attorney and shareholder with the law firm of Greenberg Traurig, petitioned Claudio Grossman, then the Dean of WCL about an idea for a summer program in hotel law. In later meetings with Dean Grossman, Professor Shapiro and Tara Gorman, then a shareholder of Greenberg Traurig, supported the program. In 2012, Dean Grossman approved the program and after several trials of names, settled on the “Hospitality & Tourism Law Program” and scheduled the first summer program for summer 2013. The foundation of HTL is that students should have a seminar rooted in topics in law, but surrounded by the economics of the industry, plus related issues in design and operations. Faculty include attorneys from Big Law (Greenberg Traurig, Arent Fox), attorneys from general counsel offices of hotel companies (Marriott, Hilton, Choice), industry executives, hotel developers, and hotel general managers.

Profile
From its inception, HTL has been a place for seminar discussions of complex legal topics, where seasoned faculty set the stage of topics and students join in the conversation. With topics suited for experiential learning, students are given behind-the-scenes tours of hospitality operations. In June 2013, the first HTL program began as a 1-week program filled with 3 separate 1-credit classes. With growth in student enrollment and faculty involvement, the program has enjoyed a trajectory of adding content. In 2017, the program was expanded to add a fourth class in hotel transactions and contract drafting, plus the program was extended to a second week of classes and tours.

David Osnos Scholars
Born in 1932, David Osnos is a real estate and corporate attorney, spending his entire career at the law firm of Arent Fox after graduating from Harvard law school. David has represented the titans of real estate, construction, and sports, including: Abe Pollin, owner of the Washington Wizards (Bullets), Washington Capitals; Jim Clark, owner of Clark Construction; and many other of the largest companies in the region and nation. Abe Pollin once described David Osnos as “the best NBA owner in the league, the best NBA general manager in the league, and the best lawyer in the league.” Professor Shapiro often describes David as the “sum of our aspirations as an attorney, tirelessly practicing civility and kindness.” In 2013, HTL was able to attract funding including donations from the National Basketball Association for Osnos Scholars, students who receive tuition help and who also are able to meet and discuss topics of the day with Mr. Osnos. In addition, HTL holds an annual Osnos Lecture, to look at relevant issue, delivered by an invited keynote speaker. It has been a matter of pride for HTL to award Osnos scholarships to students who are the first in their family to attend college and law school.

Publication
In 2013, HTL helped to introduce Routledge press (London England) to Nelson Migdal, followed by a book contract for a title in hotel law topics. In 2015, Routledge published the book written principally by Professor Migdal, based on his work and experience as an attorney in the hotel industry. Hotel Law: Transactions, Management and Franchising [20] written by Nelson Migdal, with Tara Gorman and Steven Shapiro as contributors, Routledge (2015) ( ISBN 9781138779525 ).

HTL International
HTL has offered programming at IPAG in Paris, France, plus has been invited to provide programming at Ferrandi Paris, EHL (Lausanne, Switzerland), and CENP (Madrid, Spain).

HTL Courses
Session Topics: • Hotel management agreements • Hotel franchise agreements • Labor law and union representation • Gaming & casino laws and regulation • Development and operation of resorts • Employment law and topics in Human resource management • Intellectual property in creating hotel design, reservation systems, and customer loyalty programs • Risk management and insurance • Disputes and litigation in the hotel industry • Development, design, and construction of hotel properties, including equity and debt structures In addition to class session, HTL provide back-of-house tours for students. • Tour of the Four Season D.C. hotel in Georgetown, including kitchen operations • Tour of the Fairmont D.C. hotel • Tour of the MGM National Harbor (casino & resort), including surveillance room • Tour of the Cosmos Club, a private city club • Wine tasting and wine education sessions • Crab feast • Event planning for trade association professionals At its inception in 2012, HTL had course numbers based on experimental course designation. HTL petitioned the WCL curriculum committee to create permanent course catalog listing. In 2018, the full faculty of WCL, upon the recommendation of the Curriculum Committee, voted to adopt HTL courses into the law school and officially recognizing HTL as the sole law program in the U.S. LAW-950, Introduction to Hotel Law LAW-951, Hotel Management & Franchise Agreements (Migdal, Shindler & Asher) LAW-953, Selected Topics in Hotel Law: Gaming & Resorts (Lerner, Pappas) LAW-954, Transactions and Contract Drafting in Hotel Law

Faculty
Some of the HTL faculty • Amber Asher • Michael Blank • Harris Chernow • Juan Corvinos • Tara Gorman • Carl Hurwitz • John Jacobsen • Veronique Lanthier • Mark Lerner • Nelson Migdal • Michael Pappas • Lou Rizzo • Karen Satterlee • Steven Shapiro • David Sherwyn • Michael Shindler • Kyle Stevenson • Kimberly Wachen • Chris Wallace

HTL in Fiction
To date, HTL has not appeared in books or films, and no fictional characters have attended HTL. And yet there is casting speculation (Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence) and story lines involving chase scenes and steamy hotel management agreement negotiations.