Department profile
Latham & Watkins LLP

Leisure & Hospitality

USA Guide 2026 : USA - Nationwide

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Latham & Watkins LLP

Rankings

Chambers Review

Provided by Chambers

Leisure & Hospitality - USA - Nationwide

Band 1

What the Team is Known For
Latham & Watkins' team is a transactional powerhouse with significant expertise in the hotel, leisure and gaming sectors, routinely acting on complex financings, M&A and joint ventures. Leveraging its extensive global reach, the team routinely acts for leading hotels and casino operations based in the USA and Europe. Its client base also encompasses a broad spectrum of leading financial institutions, private equity houses and wider investors. Latham is increasingly active on transactions involving public-private partnerships.
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Work Highlights

Provided by Chambers

  • Latham & Watkins advised Hyatt Hotels on its entry into an agreement to acquire all outstanding shares of Playa Hotels & Resorts for approximately $2.6 billion.

Strengths

Provided by Chambers

  • Latham & Watkins's attorneys are experts in the field and have great experience with complex issues.

    Leisure & Hospitality respondentUSA

  • Because of its experience, Latham & Watkins is very keen on proactively identifying issues way far in advance of when we would encounter them, which gives us an edge.

    Leisure & Hospitality respondentUSA

  • Latham & Watkins offers deep knowledge of the hospitality sector, management agreements, union agreements and all the nuances that come with those.

    Leisure & Hospitality respondentUSA

  • Latham & Watkins is highly effective, responsive and quick, with great subject matter expertise.

    Leisure & Hospitality respondentUSA

  • Latham & Watkins is extremely commercial and understands the business perspective very well. The law firm is very easy to work with, comes with so much transaction expertise and is able to provide many reference points for any challenging decisions.

    Leisure & Hospitality respondentUSA

Notable Practitioners

Provided by Chambers

  • Gary Axelrod
    Gary Axelrod

    Gary Axelrod

    Cohead of the hospitality gaming and leisure department, Gary Axelrod is an acknowledged leader in the leisure and hospitality field. He is a go-to attorney for big-ticket transactions such as joint ventures and acquisitions.

    • Gary is smart, efficient, comes up with sensible approaches, breaks down topics very well and provides relevant and helpful context. He is a problem-solver and counsel extraordinaire.

      Leisure & Hospitality respondentUSA

    • Gary Axelrod has broad knowledge and can see a wide range of issues.

      Leisure & Hospitality respondentUSA

    • Gary is one of the premier hospitality lawyers in the country, very smart and well respected.

      Leisure & Hospitality respondentUSA

    • Gary is fantastic and extremely knowledgeable.

      Leisure & Hospitality respondentUSA

    • Gary is practical and a very good lawyer.

      Leisure & Hospitality respondentUSA
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  • Rachel Bates
    Rachel Bates

    Rachel Bates

    Rachel Bates draws on notable transactional strength when advising a range of REITs and hospitality owners. She shows expertise handling acquisitions, joint venture transactions and equity investment.

    • Rachel is excellent to work with, very clear, responsive and pragmatic and her commercial awareness is very high.

      Leisure & Hospitality respondentUSA

    • Rachel is terrific, a really skilled practitioner and easy to get along with.

      Leisure & Hospitality respondentUSA
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Ranked Individuals at Latham & Watkins LLP (2)

USA - Nationwide

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