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Hospitality & Restaurants

Your customers experience a perfectly prepared meal or a much-needed evening out, but only you know about all the behind-the-scenes work that made it happen. Much believes you deserve the accolades, and we have the full-service team and industry know-how to help you make it look easy.

Hospitality & Restaurants

Whether you are a restaurant group with dozens of brands, a celebrity chef opening an outlet in a hotel, an operator looking to cater, or anything in between, we know how to keep you cooking. If you are a club owner, a concert promoter, or a festival organizer, we know how to protect your vision and keep your business thriving. We work with hospitality clients from the starts of their first concepts to the pinnacles of their successes, and we could not be prouder of their accomplishments:

  • James Beard Award winners and nominees
  • More than 50 Michelin stars
  • Winners and alumni of “Top Chef,” “Master Chef,” “Master Chef Jr.,” “Tournament of Champions," “Beat Bobby Flay," “BBQ Brawl,” and “Iron Chef,” among others

Experience

Much Advises Lettuce Entertain You in Joint Venture with New York-Based Restaurant Group
Much Represents Boka Restaurant Group in Sale of Minority Stake to Levy Restaurant Group
Lettuce Entertain You Relies on Much to Handle Restaurant Joint Venture with Downtown Chicago Hotel

Corporate & Finance

  • Food and beverage management agreements
  • Operating agreements and shareholder agreements
  • Subscription agreements
  • Financing agreements
  • Concessionaire and licensing agreements
  • Private securities offerings and memoranda
  • Production, manufacturing, and distribution agreements
  • Catering and event agreements


Real Estate and Construction

  • Leases
  • Real estate purchase agreements
  • Construction agreements and work letters
  • Architect and design agreements


Labor & Employment

  • Employment agreements
  • Employee handbooks
  • Wage and hour issues
  • Exempt/nonexempt issues
  • Tip pool issues
  • Harassment prevention training
  • Termination issues
  • Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act issues


Intellectual Property and Media

  • Trademark and copyright registrations
  • Confidentiality and nondisclosure agreements
  • Creative development agreements
  • Data privacy and security issues
  • Appearance agreements
  • Endorsement agreements
  • Media agreements
  • License agreements
  • Location agreements

Trending & Horizon Issues

  • Creative revenue streams become a necessity: In part because of the COVID-19 pandemic, restaurants today have had to get creative with additional revenue streams. This means building infrastructure to support online ordering and delivery as well as allowing sidewalk service or adding drive-through windows. Many restaurants have also expanded catering services to keep their employees and kitchens busy. These new frontiers for restaurants often require multiple legal disciplines, which Much has extensive experience navigating.
  • Owners explore alternatives to traditional lease arrangements: Building owners that may be stuck with unleased space are bringing in popular restaurants to add appeal to their properties and increase direct revenue from restaurateurs. Food and beverage management relationships have become increasingly popular. Much’s experience with hospitality management agreements is second to none.
  • Laws continue to evolve: The regulations governing hospitality workers continue to change. We pay close attention and advise clients on tip pool laws, minimum wage laws, service charges, and how front-of-house and back-of-house workers are compensated.
  • Management of intellectual property and brands remains critical: Chefs are seeking ways to leverage their names, popularity, and followings by going from the restaurant kitchen to grocery store aisles. Whether chefs are licensing their names and likenesses on spatulas and chef’s knives or rolling out packaged goods and recipes, they require specialized license agreements and contracts. Our attorneys know this territory well.

News & Insights

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