Skip to content
  • (800) 580-3950
  • Request a Consultation
Top Menu
Perry GroupPerry Group
Perry Group
Hotel & Restaurant Experts For The Hospitality Industry
  • Home
  • About
    • Bios
    • Contact
  • Services
    • Hospitality Management
    • Hotel Restaurant Nightclub Consulting
    • Hospitality Dispute Solutions
  • Clients
  • Media
    • Articles
    • Presentations
    • Press
  • Investors
  • Blog
 
  • Home
  • About
    • Bios
    • Contact
  • Services
    • Hospitality Management
    • Hotel Restaurant Nightclub Consulting
    • Hospitality Dispute Solutions
  • Clients
  • Media
    • Articles
    • Presentations
    • Press
  • Investors
  • Blog

Why You Need a Hospitality Expert Witness

February 26, 2014Experts in Hotels and Restaurants BlogBy G4Developer

It is highly likely that you will inevitably face a legal issue and engage a Hospitality Expert Witness to bolster your defense, no matter if you are the owner, operator, or participant at nearly any economic or legal level of a hospitality industry entity. The two most commonly-defended liability issues are “standard of care” and “custom and trade practice,” respectively.  Ironically, for neither issue can you reference a major-association or industry-standard body of regulation. This wrinkle may hinder the plaintiff almost as equally as the defendant, but it also means that plaintiffs will always see an opportunity for civil litigation. It behooves you, as a defendant, to present your customs of management clearly as equivalent to prevailing industry standards. One of the easiest ways to crystallize these disparate issues is to engage a Hospitality Expert Witness on your behalf. Primarily, the expert can assist you in illustrating the evolution of how practices become standards. One good example of this expertise is the now-ubiquitous existence of non-skid strips and mats in hotel showers. These safety features appeared alongside the proliferation of franchisee hotels and chains, as the hotel industry evolved from independent, owner-operated establishments throughout the twentieth century. From a special-order request or an add-on accessory the operator would have to self-install, safer bathtubs and showers stalls became standardized. Non-skid surfaces became essential features of hotel bathrooms as the industry expanded the demographic range of the customers they served – particularly as travelers aged. Knowledge of both the existence and importance of a non-skid surface spread not just anecdotally between franchisors, but increasingly, institutionally. You can see another example of practices becoming standards in the proliferation of electronic key-card readers to lock and unlock hotel room doors, an upgrade from traditional keyed locks. Of course, this approach hasn’t completely mitigated the prevalence of intrusion and theft. Incidents persist, and the hospitality industry is insulated from being specifically ostracized only because property crime statistics are not broken out between private residence and hotel. From a liability standpoint, however, electronic key cards have allowed security to take a large leap from keys, which were easily duplicated not just by nefarious strangers but at times by corrupted staff themselves. The ability to track not just when a room is accessed, but immediate identification of the instrument used has allowed hotel management to escape particularly injurious litigation, in addition to adverse publicity. Minimizing liability in this respect has proven most useful as the industry expanded geographically – urban areas and the highly-transient areas in the vicinity of airports and other transportation hubs, for example. Again, knowledge of this convenience, security and safety feature may have begun case by case, but spread institutionally until it became a standard, at least among the franchised and newly constructed hotels. Accurate and proper description of practices and standards can hinge on highly technical details, for which the presence of a more technically trained expert on your side can be invaluable. Non-skid bathroom shower mats may require a measurement of their precise friction coefficient to prove their effectiveness. Understanding the precise mechanics of keyless card locks, and being able to demonstrate exactly how difficult it may be to defeat them is another instance. Consider an example where management, safety and security converge synonymously – a bar patron accused of assault on the hotel premises is, in fact, an off-duty hotel employee. What’s at the root of the problem for you as a hotel owner or operator – was it the consumption of alcohol, or the presence of staff at the bar at off-hours? Are your employees held, at all times, to a higher standard of care and behavior than other customers? A Hospitality Expert can parse the finer details, bringing your company to a smoother, beneficial conclusion. In the end, proving a standard of care or custom and trade practice can seem an elusive target. Among the diversity of operations in various market locations, a Hospitality Expert Witness is your absolutely essential ally in lawsuits to turn obscurity into clarity.

 hospitality expert witness restaurant expert witnesshotel expert witness
Share this post
FacebookTwitterGoogle+PinterestLinkedIn
About the author

G4Developer

Related posts
nightclub security expert
Tips from a Nightclub Security Expert on Bar Patron Safety
December 15, 2019
interim hotel manager
When You Should Use an Interim Hotel Manager
November 15, 2019
hotel interim manager
Why a Hotel Interim Manager Does Not Always Make Sense
October 15, 2019
hotel security expert
Hotel Security Expert Tips to Manage Security for Female Travelers
September 15, 2019
restaurant turnaround consultant
Choosing a Court-Appointed Receiver or Restaurant Turnaround Consultant
August 15, 2019
shutterstock_785814277
Case Studies in Using a Restaurant Receiver for Resolving Disputes
July 15, 2019
Recent News
  • nightclub security expert
    Tips from a Nightclub Security Expert on Bar Patron Safety
    December 15, 2019
  • interim hotel manager
    When You Should Use an Interim Hotel Manager
    November 15, 2019
  • hotel interim manager
    Why a Hotel Interim Manager Does Not Always Make Sense
    October 15, 2019
  • hotel security expert
    Hotel Security Expert Tips to Manage Security for Female Travelers
    September 15, 2019
  • restaurant turnaround consultant
    Choosing a Court-Appointed Receiver or Restaurant Turnaround Consultant
    August 15, 2019
  • shutterstock_785814277
    Case Studies in Using a Restaurant Receiver for Resolving Disputes
    July 15, 2019
Archives
About Us
Perry Group International is a consortium of hospitality management services and seasoned hospitality consultants with significant operations, marketing and financial experience. Our clients include both nationwide and international assignments.
Recent News
  • Tips from a Nightclub Security Expert on Bar Patron Safety
    December 15, 2019
  • When You Should Use an Interim Hotel Manager
    November 15, 2019
Press
With Industry in "Free Fall," How do Restaurants Survive the Winter?
Perry Group Forms Alliance to Provide One-Stop-Shop for Hotel Receiverships
Food&Wine - Restaurant Burglaries Are on the Rise Despite an Overall Drop in Crime
Restaurant Business - On Top of Everything, Restaurants Are Becoming Burglary Targets
San Francisco Business Times - Dine-In Restaurants Pivot Amid Pandemic to Takeout, Delivery - Even Retail
Indiana Minority Business Magazine - Keeping a locally owned restaurant alive — and thriving
Small Business Trends - The A-Z of Writing a Restaurant Business Plan
Today's Hotelier - Connecting with Young and Old
Follow Me
Tweets by HotelRestExpert
Follow Us

Request a Consultation

(800) 580-3950

dpg@perrygroup.com

San Francisco

201 Mission Street, Suite 1200
San Francisco, CA 94105
(415) 434-0135

Los Angeles

445 S. Figueroa Street, Suite 3100
Los Angeles, CA 90071
(213) 266-7691

San Diego

3111 Camino Del Rio North, Suite 400
San Diego, CA 92108
(619) 296-4278

© 2021 All rights reserved. Design by G4 Design House.
Disclaimer