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Irv chairs Graham & Dunn's Hospitality Industry Group. He and his team counsel hospitality companies about acquiring, financing, managing, and franchising properties; all aspects of condo hotels; developing and protecting technology, brands, e-commerce solutions, and other intellectual property; real estate associated with hotels and resorts; negotiating and drafting system license agreements, management agreements, strategic partnerships, and other relationships; managing employment and diversity matters; restructuring troubled properties; and litigating disputes. Irv has led the Hospitality Industry Group since its formation in 1993. Over the last twenty years, Irv has served as lead counsel in hotel transactions worldwide representing asset values totaling in excess of $1 Billion. Irv is a frequent national speaker on hotel topics, having made recent presentations, for example, at the Lodging Conference in Phoenix ("Condo Hotel Development"), the Hospitality Law Conference in Houston ("Condo Hotels, Three Years Into the Concept"), and the Condo Hotel Summit in Miami ("Sidestepping SEC Trouble, Complying with Securities Laws"). Irv utilizes an extensive background of business and lodging industry experience accumulated in over 25 years as a Graham & Dunn lawyer. Irv litigated business cases from 1980 to 1983. From 1983 to 1993 he established a recognized corporate recovery and turnaround practice, in which he assisted hotel companies to successfully address a wide range of corporate, financial, business, transactional, and courtroom challenges. Since 1993, as leader of the Hospitality Industry Group, Irv has focused exclusively on helping hotel companies succeed, from structuring and consummating hotel deals of all kinds, to handling operational challenges, to strategically guiding disputes to resolution. Irv is Chair of the American Bar Association's Hospitality Industry Liaison Subcommittee, is a charter member of the Academy of Hospitality Attorneys, is a founding member of The Lodging Roundtable, is an executive board member of Seattle-King County Convention & Visitors Bureau, and is counsel for the Seattle Hotel Association. Irv also recently assisted in the formation and development of the National Association of Condo Hotel Owners (NACHO), an association formed to enhance the long-term success of the condo hotel segment. Professional and Community Activities American Bar Association Hospitality Industry Liaison Subcommittee, Chair (2002-present) American Bar Association Hotels, Resorts and Tourism Committee, Co-Chair (2001-2004) Academy of Hospitality Attorneys, charter member (1997-present) The Lodging Roundtable, Seattle, founding member (1998-present)
National Association of Condo Hotel Owners, counsel (2005-present) Seattle Rotary #4, Rotary Hospitality Industry Circle, founding member (2005-present) Seattle-King County Convention and Visitors Bureau, Board Member (2002-present) Seattle Hotel Association, General Counsel (2005-present) Washington State Bar Association Creditor/Debtor Section, Chair (1988-90); Editor of The Creditor/Debtor Newsletter (1983-2006) Education J.D., UCLA School of Law, 1980; member, UCLA Law Review B.A., summa cum laude, University of Washington, 1976 Representative Lectures and Panel Presentations Moderator, "Condo Hotel Financing and Legal Issues," The Lodging Conference, Phoenix (September 27, 2007) Presenter, "Condo Hotels, Three Years into the Concept," Hospitality Law Conference, Houston (February 8, 2007). Panelist, "Sidestepping SEC Trouble: Complying with Securities Laws," NACHO Condo Hotel Summit, Coral Gables (November 30, 2006).Panelist, "Condo Hotels from a Legal and Financial Perspecitve," The Lodging Conference, Phoenix (September 20, 2006).Moderator, "Condo Hotel Development," The Lodging Conference, Phoenix (September 30, 2006).Moderator and Panelist, "Condo Hotels-The Product and the Plumbing," Hospitality Law Conference, Houston (February 2, 2006). Panelist, "Condo Hotels," The Lodging Conference, Phoenix (September 30, 2005).Moderator, "Mixed-Use Review," The Lodging Conference, Phoenix (September 29, 2005). Moderator and Panelist, "Hotel Revolution-Are we Becoming a Condo Nation," American Bar Association Joint Fall CLE Meeting, San Francisco (September 15, 2005). Moderator, "Acquisition, Development and Financing Issues: Focus on Condominium Hotels," The Hospitality Law Conference, Houston (February 4, 2005). Moderator, "Mixed-Use/Hotel Condominium Development," The Lodging Conference, Phoenix (September 20, 2004). Panelist, "Internet Issues of Interest to Hospitality Client," Academy of Hospitality Industry Attorneys, Seattle (May 14, 2004). Co-chair, "The Legal Strategy Behind a Successful Mixed-Use Project: The Implication of Use Restrictions and Zoning," American Bar Association Spring Symposium, Seattle (May 14, 2004) Panelist, "Hotel Mixed-Use Development Projects," The Hospitality Law Conference, Houston (January 22, 2004). Panelist, "Deal Makers Forum," The Lodging Conference, Phoenix (October 17, 2003). Panelist, "Risking Success: Buying an Under-Performing Hotel," The Lodging Conference, Phoenix (October 17, 2003). Panelist, "Sale and Acquisition Concerns Arising from Hospitality Property Transactions: Buying and Selling a 'Business in a Box'," The Hospitality Law Conference, Houston (January 24, 2003). Panelist, "Avoiding a Lawsuit: Strategies to Protect You and Your Hotel," The Lodging Conference, Phoenix (October 4, 2002). Panelist, "Trend Setting Legal Decisions," The Lodging Conference, Phoenix (October 3, 2002). Panelist, "Merger Mania," The Lodging Conference, Phoenix (September 13, 2001). Panelist, "Law and The Management Agreement," The Lodging Conference, Phoenix (September 14, 2000). Panelist, "Legal Developments Affecting the Hotel Industry: Franchising, Construction and Environmental Issues," The Lodging Conference, Phoenix (September 14, 2000).
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