Robert W. Lannan

Principal

For over twenty-five years, Robert W. Lannan has counseled and represented clients in a variety of transactions and dispute resolution proceedings.  Much of Mr. Lannan’s practice supports clients in the hospitality industry.  However, he advises and represents clients in several other industries as well.

Before Mr. Lannan founded Lannan Legal PLLC, he was a Vice President & Senior Counsel with Hilton Worldwide, Inc., where he led a group of attorneys responsible for advising the company on operation of all of its owned and managed hotels throughout the world.  Earlier, Mr. Lannan was a Vice President & Senior Counsel with Marriott International, Inc., where he represented that company in transactions involving hotels in the United States as well as the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Middle East and Africa.

Before joining the hospitality industry, Mr. Lannan practiced at two international law firms and, at the beginning of his career, as a Captain in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps.

Mr. Lannan is a Founding Co-Chair of the annual Hotel and Lodging Legal Summit at Georgetown University Law Center, which is the leading continuing education conference for attorneys in the hotel and lodging industry. He has also served on the faculty of Georgetown University’s Masters in Global Hospitality Leadership  program.

“For over twenty-five years, Robert W. Lannan has counseled and represented clients in a variety of transactions.”

Mr. Lannan is a native of Minneapolis, Minnesota.  He now lives in Potomac, Maryland with his wife and three children.

Honors

  • Phi Beta Kappa
  • Alpha Sigma Nu
  • Elected to Academy of Hospitality Industry Attorneys
  • Founding Co-Chair, Hotel & Lodging Legal Summit, Georgetown University Law Center
  • Former Chair, American Bar Association Hotels, Resorts, and Tourism Committee

Publications and Lectures

Moderator, “Crisis-Driven Workouts, Foreclosures and Bankruptcies in the Hotel & Lodging Industry,” Hotel & Lodging Legal Summit, Georgetown University Law Center, October 21, 2020.

Co-Presenter, “Anatomy of a Hotel Workout,” Academy of Hospitality Industry Attorneys Spring Meeting, Savannah, Georgia, April 12, 2019.

Co-Presenter, “Point-Counterpoint: Contracting Issues We Face Today,” Meeting Professionals International (MPI) Potomac Chapter, November 1, 2017, Bethesda, Maryland.

Moderator, “Anti-Corruption Statutes and Legal Ethics,” Hotel & Lodging Legal Summit, Georgetown University Law Center, October 27, 2017.

Panelist, “Balancing the Interests in a Mixed-Use Condominium in the New Economy: Issues Related to Hotel Components of Development and Advantages and Costs of a Brand,” ABA Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Law Spring Symposia, May 1, 2014, Chicago, Illinois.

Panelist, “Navigating Hotel Management and Franchise Agreements: Important Issues in Negotiations,” ABA Section of Real Property, Trust & Estate Law eCLE, January 22, 2014.

Co-Presenter, “The Hotel Industry’s Role in Ending Child Sex Trafficking,” Academy of Hospitality Industry Attorneys Spring Meeting, April 27, 2013, Alexandria, Virginia.

Moderator, “Recent Developments under the Americans with Disabilities Act,” Hotel & Lodging Legal Summit, Georgetown University Law Center and American Hotel & Lodging Association, November 9, 2012, Washington, D.C.

Presentation, “Americans with Disabilities Act: Are You Surviving The Ides of March,” an eCLE sponsored by the American Bar Association Section of Real Property Trust & Estate Law, July 25, 2012.

Presentation, “Americans with Disabilities Act: New Developments and their Impact on Clubs,” Club Managers Association of America World Expo and Club Business Expo, February 28, 2012, New Orleans, Louisiana.

Presentation, “Independent-Branded Retail Outlets in Hotels,” Academy of Hospitality Industry Attorneys Fall Meeting, November 4, 2011, San Antonio, Texas.

Author, “More than Just Pets: Understanding the New Americans With Disabilities Act Service Animals Provisions,” Restaurant Startup & Growth, September 2011.  Click here to access the article.

Panelist, “Hotel and Mixed Use Workouts (and Beyond),” a webinar presentation to the American Bar Association Real Property, Trust and Estate Law Section, June 15, 2011.

Author, “Bed and Board: The Opportunities and Challenges of Entering Into a Restaurant Operations Relationship with a Hotel,” Restaurant Startup & Growth, April 2011. Click here to access the article.

Contributor, Norton’s Bankruptcy Law and Practice, 2006.

Co-Author, “Sarbanes-Oxley and Publicly Traded Corporations in the Zone of Insolvency,” 37 Review of Securities & Commodities Regulation 262, 2004.

Co-Author, “The death knell for critical vendor payments?,” The Americas Restructuring and Insolvency Guide 2004/2005 94, 2004.  Click here for a copy of the article.

Writer, “Legal Fees in Bankruptcy and Ethics, New Responsibilities of Debtors’ Counsel Under Sarbanes-Oxley,” American Bankruptcy Institute, Bankruptcy 2004: Views from the Bench, October 1, 2004, available on WESTLAW (100104 ABI-CLE 237).

Writer, “Legal Fees in Bankruptcy and Ethics, Issues for Attorneys Advising Insolvent Companies [and] those in the ‘Zone of Insolvency,'” American Bankruptcy Institute, Bankruptcy 2004: Views from the Bench, October 1, 2004, available on WESTLAW (100104 ABI-CLE 245).

Co-Author, “Protecting Residents of Continuing Care Retirement Communities,” American Bankruptcy Institute Journal, March 2003.  Click here for a copy of the article.

Co-Author, “Precautions Against Cherry-Picking for Developers and Other Lessors of Multiple Nursing Home Facilities,” American Bankruptcy Institute Journal, May 2002.  Click here for a copy of the article.

Contributor, Wiley Bankruptcy Law Update, 2002

Author, “Catholic Tradition and the New Catholic Theology and Social Teaching on the Environment,” 39 Catholic Lawyer 353, 2000.  Click here for a copy via HeinOnline (payment required).

Author, “Anthropology and Restless Spirits: The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act and the Unresolved Issues of Prehistoric Human Remains,” 22 Harvard Environmental Law Review 369, 1998.  Click here for the copy via LexisNexis (payment required).