The CLE Program will feature the following topics and presentations:
Emerging Hospitality Industry Trends: The Public Effects of Private Home Sharing
• Marriott Vacations Worldwide Corporation’s Associate Vice President of Inventory Planning, Forecasting & Analysis, Jennifer Brewer, City of Orlando’s Assistant City Attorney, Sara Taitt, and Greenberg Traurig’s Hospitality Practice Group Co-Chair, Michael J. Sullivan, will each participate in a panel discussion concerning the home sharing phenomena; assessing the economic and legal impacts of home sharing platforms such as Airbnb, Home Away, etc., on the hospitality real estate industry, residential housing supply and affordability, data privacy, and state and local tax revenues across major U.S. markets. Special emphasis will be placed on the impacts on Central Florida and the apparent conflict between local Florida government and the State of Florida in governing these issues.
Next Generation Pioneering: Real Estate Applications of Blockchain
• Greenberg Traurig’s Dylan R. Shea will present on current and possible future applications of Blockchain technology to commercial real estate practice including:
-receiving, holding and paying for real property with digital currencies such as Bitcoin;
-using Blockchain technology to effectuate and document transfer of title to real property;
-current state of the law, new statutes passed, bills under consideration, and unsolved issues relating using Blockchain technology in real estate transactions; and
-attorneys’ responsibilities and ethical considerations related to these changes including issues of privilege and confidentiality.
World to Come: Voir Dire in the #MeToo Era
• The #metoo movement has changed the way we conduct jury selection. This change applies not just to employment cases, but to any case where a litigant is questioning or challenging the credibility of a female witness. Trial lawyers must have an effective voir dire strategy to identify those jurors who may be influenced by the #metoo movement and/or may be uncomfortable seeing a female witness’ credibility challenged in court. Renowned national jury consultant, Dr. Jill Huntley, and Greenberg Traurig’s Dawn I. Giebler-Millner and Courtney M. Keller will share tips and strategies for effective voir dire in light of the #metoo political environment, including a demonstrative presentation.
Innovation Strategies: Using the Lanham Act to Combat Misleading Online Reviews
• Businesses are often frustrated by negative reviews on “consumer review” websites that appear to be neutral, but in reality have financial ties to competitors. In the wake of the Supreme Court’s Lexmark decision, some businesses are using federal trademark law (the Lanham Act) to combat such consumer review sites. Greenberg Traurig’s Gregory W. Herbert will address these state-of-the-art avenues of attack opened up by recent developments in the case law.