PHILADELPHIA – March 24, 2015 – Greenberg Traurig, LLP will partner with Drexel University’s Center for Hospitality and Sport Management to launch the school’s Business of Hospitality Education Series. Eight of the firm's attorneys will address the legal implications of opening a restaurant in Philadelphia, including zoning issues, labor and employment relations, and immigration obligations during the series’ Taste of Law seminar set for 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on April 20 at the school.
“This event combines not only our legal knowhow in the many areas that can come up when establishing a restaurant or other similar ventures, but also our deep appreciation of and commitment to the Philadelphia community,” said Laura McAllister Cox, a Greenberg Traurig shareholder, who along with fellow shareholder Tara Gorman serves as a member of Drexel University’s Center for Hospitality and Sport Management Advisory Board. “We are proud to support and be an integral part of this program.”
Greenberg Traurig “Taste of Law” presenters will include:
- Jillian C. Kirn: Kirn focuses on environmental and energy matters. She works on behalf of developers and corporations in connection with the acquisition, transfer, financing, and sale of contaminated real estate, including complex project redevelopments, environmental liability transfers, and the mitigation of environmental risk. She represents clients in litigation, particularly in contaminated sediment and oil and gas disputes, and assists in domestic and international renewable energy transactions and policy. Prior to joining the firm, she handled air, waste, and toxics enforcement matters in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Regional Counsel in Seattle, Washington.
- Kelly Dobbs Bunting: Bunting is a shareholder in Greenberg Traurig’s Labor and Employment Group, and a member of Philadelphia’s first-tier ranked Labor & Employment Practice by U.S. News –Best Lawyers. She advises local, national, and global corporations on employment-related issues, including hiring, firing, disciplinary actions, handbooks, policies and procedures, employment contracts, non-competition agreements, and cross-border workplace issues. Bunting has successfully defended employers in wage and hour and ADA class actions, as well as numerous discrimination, harassment, and retaliation complaints. She regularly appears before the EEOC, state, and municipal administrative agencies. Bunting is also co-chair of the firm’s HR Training and Compliance group and was recently ranked as “Recommended” in the 2014 The Legal 500 United States for her work in Labor and Employment : Workplace and Employment Counseling.
- Tara K. Gorman: Gorman focuses her practice on hotel acquisitions, operations, development and finance, general commercial real estate transactions, including commercial real estate acquisitions and sales, and office retail leasing. A shareholder, she prepares and counsels clients, both domestically and internationally, regarding hotel acquisitions, financing, operations, development and finance, condo-hotels, hotel management agreements, license and branding agreements, restaurant management agreements, water park and casino agreements, real estate finance documents, purchase and sale agreements, property management agreements, corporate formation, business improvement districts, vendor agreements, marketing management agreements, website service agreements, telecommunications license agreements, and commercial office and retail leases.
- Jennifer Hermansky: Hermansky, an associate, focuses her immigration practice on both employment-based and family-based immigration. Her experience includes serving health care, pharmaceutical and real estate industries, as well as entrepreneurs, scientists, and researchers in scientific communities. She represents clients in a wide range of employment-based immigrant and non-immigrant visa matters including students, professionals, managers and executives, artists and entertainers, treaty investors, individuals of extraordinary ability, and immigrant investors.
- Rachel Kipnes: Kipnes, a shareholder, focuses her practice on real estate matters, including the acquisition, development, disposition, leasing, and financing of office towers, industrial facilities, multifamily housing, and shopping centers. She also handles the documentation, negotiation, and implementation of construction and permanent loan programs, and loans and workouts of troubled loans made by commercial banks, life insurance companies, and other institutional lenders.
- Laura McAllister Cox: McAllister Cox focuses her practice on gaming-related corporate, regulatory, licensing, and product compliance matters, as well as other legal issues related to land based gaming, Internet gaming, horse racing, and the manufacturing and distribution of gaming equipment. Prior to joining the firm, McAllister Cox was the executive vice president and general counsel for Gaming Partners International Corporation (GPIC), a publicly traded company and its multinational subsidiaries that manufactures and distributes casino table game supplies worldwide.
- Nataliya Rymer: Rymer, who is of counsel, focuses her practice on employment-based immigration and compliance. She represents clients in a wide range of employment-based immigrant and non-immigrant matters, including professionals, managers and executives, artists and entertainers, treaty traders and investors, immigrant investors, and persons of extraordinary ability. She also has experience working with employers on I-9 employment verification matters as well as H-1B and LCA compliance-related issues.
- Christiana L. Signs: Signs, an associate, focuses her practice on labor and employment litigation. She has experience litigating class and collective actions and representing employers in state and federal court, in administrative proceedings, and in arbitration. She focuses on wage and hour, discrimination, and retaliation law. She also has experience in defamation, trade secret, wrongful discharge, and non-compete cases.