Sutherland Asbill & Brennan LLP announced today that Mark A. Robertson, previously senior vice president and assistant general counsel for Hilton Worldwide, Inc., has joined the firm as a partner in Washington DC.
Mr. Robertson spent 17 years in the legal department at Hilton, ultimately serving as the senior legal representative for the company’s operations, brand and commercial services teams. He managed the full array of business and legal issues relating to international and domestic hotel operations for more than 3,500 owned, leased, licensed, franchised and affiliated properties across 10 different Hilton brands.
“We are thrilled to have Mark join us,” said Managing Partner Mark D. Wasserman. “His experience managing diverse legal matters on a global scale, from ecommerce and information technology to compliance and crisis management, will benefit a broad spectrum of our clients.”
Mr. Robertson’s responsibilities as one of Hilton’s top in-house counsel included establishing and overseeing more than $750 million in information technology outsourcing agreements. He also had oversight of joint ventures; new ventures; antitrust and competition; marketing, global branding and public relations; crisis management; legal compliance; internet distribution; sales; mergers and acquisitions; and franchising and development. One of his most significant accomplishments was creating the Hilton franchise development system. This work included developing forms; establishing processes; addressing franchise legal issues; and overseeing the team for more than 3,000 franchise agreements.
“Our outsourcing team has had the pleasure of working alongside Mark over the past three years in developing and implementing various strategies and solutions for core business functions and operations.” said Scott M. Hobby, who leads Sutherland’s Outsourcing and Mergers and Acquisitions practices. “We are delighted to have him join our team and continue expanding our services to the hospitality sector.”
