Cecelia L. Fanelli has over 20 years of experience in litigation and dispute resolution, practicing across the country in federal and state trial and appellate courts, and in arbitration, mediation and alternative dispute resolution proceedings.

Ms. Fanelli’s practice focuses on commercial litigation relating to the banking, real estate and hotel industries. She has handled major litigation for a variety of clients who are significant players in the hotel industry. Ms. Fanelli represents such clients domestically and internationally, and they run the gamut from owners of hotels to lenders, franchisees and franchisors.

She has successfully represented clients and obtained a number of multi-million dollar recoveries in hotel industry litigations and complex real estate litigations and workouts. Ms. Fanelli has successfully defended lender clients against multi-million dollar lender liability and antitrust claims and has tried a variety of trademark infringement injunction and damage claims on behalf of franchisors. She was counsel for the prevailing lender in the leading case of Government Guarantee Fund of Republic of Finland v. Hyatt, which confirmed the right of owners to terminate managing agencies.

Memberships

American Bar Association, Former Vice-Chair of the Resorts and Tourism Committee of the Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Sections; Section of Litigation; International Bar Association, Business Law and Legal Practice Sections

Activities

Lecturer, The Dean’s Distinguished Lecture Series, Cornell University School of Hotel Administration, Fall 2002;

Lecturer, Franchise Law, Cornell University School of Hotel Administration;

Lecturer, Complex Work-outs Involving Troubled Hotel Assets, Cornell University, S.C. Johnson Graduate School of Management;

Frequently lectures before professional and industry groups in the banking, real estate and hotel industry;

Co-author, Non-Competition Clauses and Their Effect on Multi-Brand Hotel Competition: An Update, Stroock Hospitality Industry Practice Group Special Bulletin, Fall 2008;

Co-author, Most Hotel Deals Now Exempt from Federal Franchise Rule Disclosures Under ‘Sophisticated Investor Exemptions’, Stroock Hospitality Industry Practice Group Special Bulletin, Fall 2008;

Shaw v. Marriott International, Inc.: The Dismissal of a Consumer Class Action for Alleged Hotel Reservations Website Fraud and Its Implications for Operators, Franchisors and Guests, Stroock Hospitality Industry Practice Group Special Bulletin, Fall 2008;

Co-author, The Employee Free Choice Act: What Hotel Owners and Managers Need to Know About Legislation That Could Alter Labor Relations in the Hotel Industry, Stroock Hospitality Industry Practice Group Special Bulletin, Spring 2008. Also appeared in the Winter 2008 Employee Relations Law Journal;

Co-author, "The End of Impact: Has the Death Knell Sounded for Economic Impact Studies in Encroachment Disputes between Managers and Owners?", Stroock Hospitality Industry Practice Group Newsletter, Fall 2007;

Co-author, "Federal Courts Dismiss Class Actions and Hold That a Discrepancy between the Room Rate Quoted in a Hotel Chain's Reservations Website and the Room Rate Charged at the Hotel Does Not Constitute Consumer Fraud," Stroock Hospitality Industry Practice Group Newsletter, Fall 2007

Admitted to Practice

New York, 2002

Pennsylvania, 1979

Education

J.D., Cornell Law School, 1979; Editor, Cornell Law Review

B.A., summa cum laude, University of Pennsylvania, 1975; Phi Beta Kappa