(Photo: BigTunaOnline/Shutterstock.com)Meet the Airbnb In-House Lawyers Behind Its HotelTonight Deal
It took about a dozen Airbnb in-house lawyers to pull off the short-term lodging service's biggest acquisition.
March 22, 2019 at 02:35 PM
3 minute read
From privacy to payments specialists, it took about a dozen Airbnb lawyers to pull off the short-term lodging service's biggest acquisition. And those were just the in-house lawyers.
In a statement to The New York Times, Airbnb chief executive Brian Chesky said the company's planned acquisition of HotelTonight is a step toward “serving every guest, whether they plan their trip a year or a day in advance.”
HotelTonight caters to discounted last-minute bookings, though in recent years has expanded its booking time frame to 100 days. For its part, Airbnb has expanded from home rentals to boutique and luxury hotels, as well as activities, according to the Times.
To Christian Salaman, a San Diego-based partner and leader of the travel and hospitality team at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman who has worked with tech companies in the hospitality space, the deal represents the natural evolution he said he sees with many startups.
“The startups become bigger, and then they become emerging companies, and then they become big companies,” he said. “And Airbnb has been on that path fast.”
Sand Francisco-based Airbnb's current legal department has more than 100 legal professionals worldwide, including in all of its largest offices, a company spokesperson said in an email. The team is run by general counsel Rob Chesnut, a former federal prosecutor and senior vice president at eBay Inc. who already had plenty of experience with startups when he took the helm in April 2016.
Neither Chesnut nor Sara Marston, HotelTonight's GC since last July, could immediately be reached for comment about the deal and any challenges it presented.
In a move designed to grow the legal team to support the new hotel category on Airbnb, the HotelTonight legal department is expected to join Airbnb's, an Airbnb spokesperson said.
According to the spokesperson, the Airbnb legal team that worked on the HotelTonight deal included: Jia Liu and Allie Hastings on corporate merger and acquisition issues; Paul Nikhinson and Polina Zvyagina on privacy; Ryan Decker on payments; David Rak and Zach Dunn on product and commercial issues; Leola Meiners on integration; Peter Urias on employment; Alica Del Valle on intellectual property; and Rob Haslam on Europe, the Middle East and Africa legal issues.
Marston was the main lawyer on the HotelTonight side, with support from Melissa Hung, associate GC, and Linda Lui, legal operations manager.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View All
Marriott to Pay $52M, Upgrade Cybersecurity to Settle Probes Into 3 Big Breaches
After DOJ Smackdowns Leave JetBlue Spiraling, Longtime GC Heads for Exit
Trending Stories
- 1Trump and Latin America: Lawyers Brace for US's Hardline Approach to Region
- 2Weil Advances 18 to Partner, Largest Class Since 2021
- 3People and Purpose: AbbVie's GC on Leading With Impact and Inspiring Change
- 4Beef Between Two South Florida Law Firms Deepens With Suit Over Defamation
- 5Judge Skips Over Sanctions in Talc Bankruptcy: 'That’s A No'
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250
