Hospitality Expert Witness & Legal Advisory
Advise counsel based on expert witness reporting, testimony, and strategic advice relevant to legal cases or issue.
Meet Our Expert Witness & Legal Advisory Consultants
Perry Smith
Restaurant & Club Operations, PR, Branding
Alan Someck
Expert Witness, Foodservice Operations
Brian Schoettes
Workforce Management Expert
Bill Carroll, Ph. D.
Revenue, Pricing, Marketing
Juliette Gust
Ethics, Compliance, Anti-Fraud
Chuck Kelley
Positioning & Asset Operations
Dr. Chekitan Dev
Hospitality Branding and Marketing
Gary Isenberg
Hotel Stakeholder Advocacy & Development
Walter O'Connell
Hotel Valuation & Cost Segregation
Simon Turner
Expert Witness, Asset Mgmt, Transactions
Preston Rideout
Nightclub and Dram Shop Expert
Stacy Moore
Foodservice Concepts & Strategies
Greg Riehle
Legal, Risk Management, Arbitration
Kevin Doyle
Fraud Investigations & Prevention
Dan Voellm
Asset Management & Valuations
Peter LaFemina
Hospitality Finance and Owner Services
Eric Rubino
Acquisitions/Investment/Deal Structuring
Donald Hoover
HR training, development, deployment
Charis Atwood
FF&E Project Planning and Management
Cayuga Hospitality Consultants (CHC) provides skilled professionals to serve as Expert Witnesses and Consulting Experts in hospitality litigation. In a consulting role, they guide retaining attorneys on industry operational practices, terminology, and nuances, and help identify the strengths and weaknesses of each party’s position. When testimony is needed, CHC Testifying Experts offer opinions on the applicable duty of care and inform the fact-finder on central issues — with the expertise to withstand Daubert challenges and bring valuable leverage toward a successful resolution.
Hospitality expert witness retentions come in two categories: Standard of Care and Business Disputes.
Hospitality Standard of Care Litigation
Hospitality Standard of Care Litigation, typically involves personal injury matters: slips-and-falls,
negligent security, property maintenance-related injuries, event management responsibilities,
adulterated food and beverage, dram shop claims, violations of civil rights claims, Legionnaire’s
Disease claims, human trafficking, and disputes concerning services that may be outsourced such as housekeeping, grounds maintenance, facilities maintenance, laundry services, etc.
Hospitality Business Disputes
Business Disputes, Contractual Disputes can involve management contract issues, franchise disputes, hotel brand defense disputes, Condominium-Hotel Disputes (such Rental Management Agreement (RMA) disputes, and breach of fiduciary duty claims between management and unit owners, insurance acquisition, risk-sharing, etc.) Third-party hospitality disputes range from concessionaires’ disputes, landlord-tenant disputes, purchase and sale
agreement industry interpretation, conference and events contracts), lender and financing
issues, etc.
Legal Advisory & Support
Cayuga Hospitality Consultants expert witnesses are available to be engaged by defendants as well as plaintiffs. They have a depth of experience and knowledge of all areas of hotel, resort
and foodservice, serving as an excellent resource for developing policies and procedures. They establish training programs that can protect you during an instance of litigation. Protection can
help to limit liability, or may result in case dismissals altogether.
A wealth of hospitality industry experience, exceptional research capabilities, and knowledge
regarding standards and trends, Legal Advisory Support can be involved even before a claim is filed, securing assets for compliance or preventing closure and disruption as a result of fraud,
theft or misconduct, retaining expert and witness testimony, business materials and trade
secrets, deliberations and other findings revealed in Arbitration proceedings.
Hotel Expert Witness
A Cayuga Hospitality Consultants expert provides testimony of hotel operations, ranging from insurance, contracts, landlord/tenant disputes, and hotel compliance with its legal standards of care. An expert serves regardless of the hospitality business model.
Hotel Franchisor Disputes
If contractual obligations, brand standards enforcement, or financial arrangements with franchisees cause legal conflict with the parent brand, franchisor, a Cayuga Hospitality Consultants expert can be available as a reliable resource either before or during a dispute.
Hotel Franchisee Dispute
Just as franchisors may experience disputes, a franchisee may face disputes over fees, marketing, compliance, termination and other conflicts. These risks considered, a franchisee should include a Cayuga Hospitality Consultants expert in the event a conflict between the parties occurs.
Hotel Brand Defense Disputes
A brand must defend its reputation, enforce compliance with existing policies in connection with
industry standards and brand-mandated procedures. Cayuga Hospitality Consultants is cross-trained with experience in public relations and brand services as well as serving as expert witnesses and legal advisors and consultants.
Hotel Insurance Claims
When challenged by liability claims and property damage with related business interruption losses, retain Cayuga Hospitality Consultants insurance risk management consultant to help resolve disputes over coverage and damages. If the matter goes to litigation or appraisal, bring in a Cayuga Hospitality Consultants expert with hospitality industry expertise.
Hotel Contracts
Hotel owners, operators, brands, vendors and partners negotiate to create agreements, leases and governing operations and business relationships. Consider bringing in Cayuga Hospitality Consultants with expertise to oversee interpretation, negotiation of these complex documents and retain a Cayuga Hospitality Consultants expert to give an edge to successfully resolve legal disputes.
Hotel contract interpretation (review)
An expert to analyze contract language for determining involved parties’:
- rights
- obligations
- intent of the parties
Also referred to as contract review, Cayuga Hospitality Consultants has been known to excel in audits, developing impactful results of the fine business details.
Dispute by Hotel Tenant
Cayuga Hospitality Consultants can assist landlords or tenants with resolving hospitality industry disputes. The operator’s perspective on lease terms and compliance, leasehold improvements can be decisive.
Legionnaire's Disease Claims
Water systems and HVAC upkeep ensures operations are reliable with routine, even preventative maintenance. Find an expert in duty of care to communicate hospitality industry standards, and start a conversation about the facility’s condition to prevent outbreak.
A hotel may lawfully decline to admit or check in a guest under certain circumstances, but that discretion has limits. When a guest with a confirmed reservation is turned away, or when admission is denied inconsistently, the property can face claims of wrongful refusal, breach of reservation, or discrimination. The deciding question is usually whether the hotel applied clear, reasonable policies consistently and in keeping with applicable anti-discrimination and public-accommodation law.
Failure to Admit/Check-in
A Cayuga Hospitality Consultants expert can evaluate:
- Whether a denial rested on legitimate, non-discriminatory grounds — such as inability to meet payment or identification requirements, conduct posing a safety risk, or capacity and overbooking — rather than a protected characteristic.
- Whether the property's admission and check-in policies were documented, reasonable, and applied evenhandedly across guests.
- Whether staff followed brand standards and industry norms for handling overbooking, "walking" guests, and honoring confirmed reservations.
- Compliance with anti-discrimination, civil rights, and ADA/accessibility obligations owed to guests as a place of public accommodation.
Whether pursuing or defending a claim, a CHC expert can assess whether a refusal met the applicable standard of care and industry norms, giving counsel a clear-eyed read on liability.
Slip/Fall
An expert will monitor liability based on floor safety and hazards in the standard of care, plan the safety of liability-susceptible events to prevent injury or fatality, foster existing relationships, and strategize asset management.
In the event of an incident, a highly skilled advisor is valuable to either side in bringing charges for or defending claims for injury.
Restaurant Expert Witness
Cayuga Hospitality Consultants has Expert Witnesses specializing in restaurants, specifically, Food and Beverage (F&B) matters, in light of the common legal challenges of restaurants such as financial disputes, bankruptcy, training and other operational and management issues, safety and compliance. An expert understands P&L pressure and regulations faced by F&B operations.
Food and Beverage (F&B) Bankruptcy
During financial insolvency of a food-service restaurant, a Cayuga Hospitality Consultants expert helps to prepare for legal proceedings as a result of financial hardship.
In reorganization, debtors and creditors may be entitled to employ a hospitality expert to assist with the bankruptcy case.
F&B Foreclosure
Foreclosure is when a lender will reclaim its asset in order to recover debt that was incurred due to the borrower’s failed payments. F&B assets could be seized if loans are defaulted on. Cayuga Hospitality Consultants can help negotiate forbearance agreements and financial restructuring.
F&B Operations & Management
Disputes arise from staffing, abiding by and setting the service standards, or failing to effectively manage inventory and expectations. Cayuga Hospitality Consultants can assist in the resolution of such disputes
Ownership/management disputes
Owners and management companies often find themselves in conflict regarding operational decisions, such as control or profit, or capital needs which can result in separation, termination, tension or lawsuits. The neutral third party of a hospitality expert witness is trained and experienced to help owners and/or management reach a mutually beneficial resolution. When the dispute cannot be resolved short of litigation, a Cayuga Hospitality Consultants expert can be a valuable resource bringing leverage to successful resolution.
F&B employees
Disputes consisting of staff involved in preparation, service, and support of F&B operations. Hospitality expert witnesses are versed in ADA, wrongful termination, and dram shop to analyze, and based on evidence, provide opinion and advise when needed.
F&B Employee Wage Matters
When there is a dispute over compensation, overtime, distribution or compliance of an F&B staff member’s earnings, Cayuga Hospitality Consultants hospitality payroll expert witnesses can provide FLSA knowledge, helping the restaurant understand the complexities of wage and hour law and resolve disputes when they arise.
F&B Employee Training
To ensure safety of employees and adherence to the operational and service standards set by the F&B organization, a Cayuga Hospitality Consultants expert can help consider where and how to provide ongoing opportunities for your staff to prosper, ensuring that curriculum is accessible and is built to address the aspects of your operations.
Food Safety
Restaurant standards of care require compliance with health codes, preventing illness by handling based on sanitation standards and related best practices. If an issue does arise, a Cayuga Hospitality Consultants F&B expert may point on the kitchen’s processing, liability, and compliance.
Dram Expert Witness
Cayuga Hospitality Consultants has Expert Witnesses who specialize in the operations of a bar, its alcohol service, and safety standards in club operations.
Legal issues arising from licensing, liability or compliance. An expert witness specializes in dram shop law to report on liability and how to prevent incidents. When liability claims arise, a Cayuga Hospitality Consultants expert can provide testimony regarding the requisite standard of care. Known to be versed in ADA and wrongful termination, an expert analyzes, provides opinion, and advises when needed. Clubs protect staff and patrons from harm by addressing fire codes, emergency procedures, guest overcrowding, negligence or inadequacy, or security risk management.
When liability claims arise, a Cayuga Hospitality Consultants expert can provide testimony regarding the requisite standard of care, navigate the facts of the matter to determine appropriate resolution, evaluate the security to assess areas for improvement based on industry standards, and technology or automated solutions.
Events and Venue Management Expert Witness
An expert witness considers the planning and safety of a liability-susceptible event to prevent injury or fatality, may be growing and benefit from a professional expert witness to foster existing relationships and strategize how to manage assets. Personal injury and/or wrongful death claims can arise from harm or fatality. A consulting expert witness can also assist after the case has begun or is underway, in addition to ongoing emergency preparedness that is not limited to only event duration.
Event-related assets or business when bought, sold or rented. Expert witness impartial opinions based on hospitality can be offered for participating parties to understand industry jargon or context that could otherwise be confusing.
A Cayuga Hospitality Consultants venue experts are versed in the F&B, security risk management, parking and maintenance of events, advising and analyzing plans to reduce organizational risk, supporting the venue.
Issues in events at a hospitality venue, such as delay, damages, over or under-forecasting can be extensive but do not have to bottleneck the timeline.
Facilities Management Expert Witness
An expert witness of hospitality facilities consults based on the standard of valuation, maintenance and integrity, providing objective analysis for finance, sale or litigation of the hospitality asset’s value.
Non-guest-facing areas like kitchens, maintenance, and admin offices that may need inspection, opinion, or evidence-based assessment. Upkeep ensures operations are reliable with routine, even preventative maintenance, to hospitality industry standards. Housekeeping will evaluate cleanliness and report internally of hazards in the duty of care for patron and operational safety.
Assistance bridges industry jargon based on the standard of valuation, maintenance and integrity, and provides objective analysis. Issues in hospitality do not have to bottleneck operations. In the event of dispute, a Cayuga Hospitality Consultants expert’s duty of care is to help the finder of fact understand the complicated terminology and relationships in this field.
The Cayuga Hospitality Consultants Difference
Clear communication and the understanding of your hospitality operations and constraints prepare witnesses to withstand rigorous cross-examination. Our testifying experts stand apart due to their hands-on hospitality experience, rigorous research capabilities, and courtroom acumen. Trusted advocates bring clarity and professionalism to the legal process.
