The Global Hospitality Group® of Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell LLP (JMBM) is pleased to announce publication of the 5th edition of The HMA & Franchise Agreement Handbook, a guide for hotel owners, developers, investors and operators considering a hotel management agreement (HMA) or franchise agreement, or dealing with the challenges of termination of one.

Co-authored by JMBM’s Global Hospitality Group® Chairman, Jim Butler, senior Group member Robert E. Braun and Mark S. Adams, the 5th edition of The Handbook includes an updated section on why long-term management and franchise agreements may now be terminable, with all-new material exploring historic changes to Maryland law that may affect these contracts on hotels across the country.

The new edition features commentary from two faculty members at Cornell University’s Nolan School of Hotel Administration; an overview by Chekitan S. Dev, the Singapore Tourism Distinguished Professor, and a Foreword by Jan A. deRoos, HVS Professor of Hotel Finance and Real Estate Emeritus. The authors’ objective of providing the keys for ‘breaking the code’ to HMAs and franchise agreements is fully realized, writes deRoos. The work is revised and updated with an understanding that the great questions never change, but the answers do.

Although the fundamentals of what a hotel owner or developer should look for in an operator and management agreement remain the same, the rise in use of franchise agreements, as well as important changes to Maryland law governing termination have shifted the landscape, said Butler. We want our colleagues and friends in the hospitality industry to have a solid foundation when it comes to understanding these concepts.

How to get a free copy of the 5th edition ofThe HMA Handbook

The HMA & Franchise Agreement Handbook is available for download through hotel.law/HMA-Handbook. It can also be found on the HotelLawyer.com Resource Center, which hosts other books in the Global Hospitality Group’s “We Wrote the Book” series, including the recently updated Developer’s EB-5 Handbook.

What’s new in this edition

The 5th edition ofThe HMA & Franchise Agreement Handbook features updates exploring important developments in the hotel industry, including:

  • Maryland law changes historic rights and remedies in HMA and franchise litigation
  • How to get a great hotel operator and a fair HMA
  • The five biggest mistakes hotel owners make
  • When should you choose a brand an independent operator for your hotel?
  • Eight things to negotiate in your next franchise agreement
  • Comfort letters in financing franchised hotels
  • The two sides of dual-branded hotels
  • Why most long-term hotel management agreements may now be terminable

About Jim Butler

This is Jim Butler, author of www.HotelLawBlog.com and founding partner of JMBM and JMBM’s Global Hospitality Group®. We provide business and legal advice to hotel owners, developers, independent operators and investors. This advice covers critical hotel issues such as hotel purchase, sale, development, financing, franchise, management, ADA, and IP matters. We also have compelling experience in hotel litigation, union avoidance and union negotiations, and cybersecurity & data privacy.

About Bob Braun

Bob Braun is a Senior Member of JMBM’s Global Hospitality Group® and is Co-Chair of the Firm’s Cybersecurity & Privacy Group. Bob has more than 20 years of experience in representing hotel owners and developers in their contracts, relationships and disputes with hotel managers, licensors, franchisors and brands, and has negotiated hundreds of hotel management and franchise agreements. His practice includes experience with virtually every significant hotel brand and manager. Bob also advises clients on condo hotel securities issues and many transactional matters, including entity formation, financing, and joint ventures, and works with companies on their data technology, privacy and security matters. These include software licensing, cloud computing, e-commerce, data processing and outsourcing agreements for the hospitality industry.

In addition, Bob is a frequent lecturer as an expert in technology, privacy and data security issues, and is one of only two attorneys in the 2015 listing of SuperLawyers to be recognized for expertise in Information Technology. Bob is on the Advisory Board of the Information Systems Security Association, Los Angeles chapter, and a member of the International Association of Privacy Professionals. Contact Bob Braun at 310.785.5331 or [email protected].

About Mark Adams 

Mark Adams is an experienced trial lawyer and a member of JMBM’s Global Hospitality 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. For more information, contact Mark at 949.623.7230 or [email protected].

About the JMBM Global Hospitality Group®

The hospitality attorneys in the Global Hospitality Group® of Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell LLP comprise the premier hospitality practice in a full-service law firm, and the most experienced legal and advisory team in the industry. Our team of seasoned hotel lawyers has helped clients with more than 4,600 hospitality properties located around the globe valued at more than $123 billion, and have worked on more than 2,700 management and franchise agreements. Our experience provides one of the most extensive virtual data bases of market terms for deals and financings. The hospitality lawyers of our team are not just great hotel lawyers—we are also hospitality consultants and business advisors, dealmakers and facilitators of the flow of capital. We help our clients find the right operator, joint venture partner or capital provider. We know who to call and how to reach them.

Jim Butler
+1 310 201 3526
JMBM

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