I relish, pun intended, the hospitality industry. I supported myself through seven years of college and law school at Cornell University by bartending at several local establishments. That experience, combined with my love of food and travel, ultimately drew me to the hospitality industry as an attorney and later as an adjunct professor at Cornell’s Hotel School.

I grew up living in the United States, Canada, Liberia, and Kenya before returning to the United States to attend Cornell, and I speak fluent Swahili. During college, I spent three summers working at a refugee camp in southern Sudan, now South Sudan. Since graduating from law school in 1990, I have devoted my practice to labor and employment law, primarily representing hotel and restaurant management companies and owners. My international background gives me a distinctive perspective on the hospitality industry, which draws much of its strength from cultural and ethnic diversity. Practicing labor and employment law in this industry requires an understanding of sociology and anthropology as much as it does traditional legal training, and I remain a dedicated student of these disciplines.

I have extensive experience representing hospitality employers in labor and employment matters in federal and state courts, private and public arbitration, and before administrative agencies, including the EEOC, USDOL, NLRB, and numerous state and municipal agencies. My practice spans complex employment litigation, wage and hour class and collective actions, and traditional labor matters. I spend as much time counseling hospitality clients on how to avoid litigation as I do aggressively representing their interests when claims arise. My counseling practice focuses on training, leadership, compliance audits, and organizational design. I also advise clients on traditional labor matters and represent their interests in union campaigns, collective bargaining, and related disputes. My labor practice extends beyond the United States and includes consulting in Canada, the Caribbean, and Central and South America.

After more than three decades representing the hospitality industry, I have learned that the most effective legal solutions rarely come from looking at the law in isolation. They require understanding the operation, its people, its culture, and the business objectives behind the issue. Whether I am advising a client through a difficult labor strategy, negotiating at the bargaining table, defending a significant claim, or helping leadership prevent one from developing, my goal is the same: practical advice that works in the real world of hospitality.

I am honored to serve as an adjunct professor at Cornell’s Hotel School, where I have taught since 1998. I teach Hospitality Business Law, Employment Law, and Labor Relations in the Hospitality Industry. The synergy between my law practice and my academic work is professionally enriching and makes me a better advisor and advocate for my clients. Teaching also keeps me connected to the next generation of hospitality leaders and to the evolving issues shaping the industry.

Outside of work, I love to travel, particularly when it gives me the opportunity to visit family spread across the world. I consider myself an expert in both tasting and cooking great food. Most of all, I value spending time with my children and seeing where their own interests and passions take them.