Dispute Resolution Qualifications
R. Maurice Robinson, ISHC, CRE, ASA

Mr. Robinson is an expert in the field of dispute resolution in the hospitality and real estate industries. He has been providing objective, high-level counseling to real estate and hospitality clients for over thirty years. His dispute resolution experience is wide-ranging, and includes being a mediator, arbitrator (panelist and chair), Issue Review Board chair, or expert witness in disputes between:

• Upscale hotel owners and operators;
• General contractors and subcontractors;
• Joint-venture partners;
• Landlords and tenants;
• Hotel buyers and sellers;
• Government agencies and private concessioners;
• Borrowers and lenders;
• Restaurant owners and suppliers;
• General partners and limited partners;
• Franchisees and franchisors;
• Investors and brokers;
• Municipalities and developers; and
• Ground lessors and lessees.

Representative Accomplishments

Mr. Robinson's extensive experience in hospitality-related disputes includes forums such as American Arbitration Association and JAMS arbitration panels, Federal Bankruptcy Court, Special Litigation Committees, Superior and State Courts, and Special Review Boards of real estate assets. He has been involved as a mediator or arbitrator in disputes ranging from single residential real estate assets to portfolios of more than 10,000 hotel rooms. In addition to his experience as a neutral in dispute resolution matters, Mr. Robinson also has an extensive background as an expert witness. His recent case load includes providing arbitration, mediation or expert witness testimony for more than a dozen superior court cases, ten arbitrations, seven mediations, and two bankruptcies, collectively involving more than 20,000 hotel rooms, several National Parks, and over three billion dollars of real estate assets across the United States.

Mr. Robinson has served as Chairperson of six 3-person arbitration panels in the past few years, and has been named as the neutral panelist twice by the two party-appointed arbitrators. In 2003, he served as the neutral arbitrator in a dispute between the owner and operator of a 5-diamond resort in Honolulu, which included a hearing with 17 expert witnesses. In 2005, he was the sole arbitrator for another 5-diamond resort in the Caribbean. In both cases, Mr. Robinson managed to complete the entire arbitration process within 30 days of being appointed as the neutral.

In addition to his dispute resolution activities, Mr. Robinson has conducted acquisition due diligence, appraisals, workouts and/or the original market feasibility studies on dozens of high-end, full-service hotels and resorts over the past thirty years. As Principal with KPMG Peat Marwick LLP, Mr. Robinson was the primary resource in the western United States for hotel development and financing issues, particularly full-service urban and resort properties. His clients included numerous luxury and upscale hotels, resorts and timeshare properties. He has been involved with the financing, development, acquisition or dispute resolution of over $12 billion of hospitality real estate. Additionally, Mr. Robinson is particularly adept at forging public/private partnerships to facilitate real estate development. He has negotiated numerous ground and building leases, concession contracts and other real estate development and operating agreements, including development, management, and franchise agreements

Background

Mr. Robinson is President of Maurice Robinson & Associates LLC, providing advisory services to lenders, investors, public agencies and developers in the Hospitality and Real Estate industries. Prior to founding Maurice Robinson & Associates LLC, Mr. Robinson was a Principal with KPMG Peat Marwick LLP, leading their western region Hospitality and Real Estate consulting practice for nearly twelve years. Prior to KPMG, Mr. Robinson was a Manager in the real estate and hospitality consulting practice of Pannell Kerr Forster (now PKF Consulting) for five years. His previous work experience also includes three years as senior economist with the real estate consulting firm of Williams-Kuebelbeck & Associates and a year as an independent consultant.

ADR Training

Mr. Robinson has completed the 24-hour Commercial Arbitration training with the Institute of Conflict Management (ICM), and two training courses in Arbitration procedures from the NASD Regulation's Board of Arbitrators, including training and experience as the chairperson of a panel. He has also completed 30 hours of Basic Mediation training from the L.A. County Bar Association's Dispute Resolution Services, a 24-hour Mediation training from ICM, and has been a mediator of numerous hospitality and real estate related disputes. Additionally, he has taken 24 hours of Issue Review Board training with ICM, and chaired an IRB for a full-service hotel in California for several years.

Education

He also holds a Master of Public Administration degree in municipal finance from the University of Southern California; a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota; a certificate of environmental management from the Environmental Management Institute in Los Angeles; a professional designation in financial planning from the University of California, Los Angeles; and a California General Real Estate Appraisal certificate.

Speeches

Mr. Robinson is a frequent lecturer at various real estate and hospitality industry-related seminars and conferences across the United States, and has spoken more than two dozen times at national and local hotel industry conferences over the past twenty years. Two of his most recent panels included the topics of Litigation Support Services and Alternative Dispute Resolution in the Hospitality Industry. Additionally, he has been a Guest Lecturer at the Haas School of Business in UC Berkeley's MBA program.

Articles

Mr. Robinson is the author or co-author of numerous articles, including "How to Value Commercial Improvements in a National Park"; Issue Review Boards™ – "The Next Wave of Alternative Dispute Resolution for the Hospitality Industry"; and "Mega-Resort Development Surges in Race to Meet New Demands of Business Travelers". He also co-authored the "Alternative Dispute Resolution in the Hospitality Industry" chapter of the 2006 Hotel Investments – Issues & Perspectives book for the AH&LA.

Awards

Mr. Robinson was awarded the prestigious James Felt Creative Counselor Award by his peers in the Counselors of Real Estate for his groundbreaking work appraising the land and buildings at the Grand Canyon National Park. His innovative new methodologies have created a resolution to the complex disputes involving the valuation of our National Parks and their concession contracts. He is also the 2005 recipient of the Chuck Pinkowski Volunteer of the Year Award by the International Society of Hospitality Consultants, for establishing an ADR training program for hospitality industry experts.

Affiliations

Mr. Robinson is a member of the Board of Directors of the International Society of Hospitality Consultants (ISHC), where he currently serves as Chairman of both the Professional Conduct Committee and the ADR Task Force. Other professional memberships include the Counselors of Real Estate (CRE), where he sits on the Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee, the American Society of Appraisers (ASA), the Forensic Expert Witness Association (FEWA) and the NASD Regulation Dispute Resolution's Board of Arbitrators.