Litigator of the Week Runners-Up and Shout-Outs

A Mayer Brown team led by partners Joel Williamson, John Hildy and Tyler Johnson, alongside a Latham & Watkins team lead by partners Melissa Arbus Sherry, Eric Konopka and associate Uriel Hinberg, represented Hyatt Hotels Corp. at the Seventh Circuit in the appeal of a U.S. Tax Court decision signing off on the Internal Revenue Service decision to treat payments by third party-owned Hyatt-branded hotels into a Hyatt customer loyalty program as reportable income. The Seventh Circuit this week vacated the tax court decision and remanded the case to consider Hyatt’s argument under the “claim of right” doctrine that the contributions should only be considered income if there’s no obligation to repay them. Sherry argued the appeal for Hyatt.