Cipriani Hires Standard Hotel Lawyer Amid Global Expansion Push

Cipriani, an operator of high-end hotels, members’ clubs, and restaurants embarking on a global expansion effort, has revived its general counsel role by hiring Thayer Thompson from Standard International LLC.

Thompson joins New York-based Cipriani USA Inc., which is part of the Italian company of the same name, and whose roots began in Venice’s iconic Harry’s Bar in 1931. The company’s most recent general counsel appears to have been Blank Rome partner and hospitality practice chair Christy Reuter, who left for private practice in 2013. Reuter didn’t return a comment request.

A Cipriani spokeswoman didn’t provide a timeline for the C-suite legal chief vacancy that’s been filled by Thompson but noted the company is “delighted to welcome him on board.” Thompson, who confirmed his hire via email, said it’s his understanding he’s the first general counsel at Cipriani in “quite a few years.”

The company is looking to raise more than $500 million for a hospitality fund that will bring it to new locations in Dubai, Geneva, Madrid, Singapore, and Tokyo. The expansion push is coming under its Casa Cipriani brand, a private club that charges about $4,000 a year for membership at its New York locale.

Cipriani establishments have been venues for law firm holiday parties, which often double as client development opportunities and went on hiatus during the pandemic, as well as the occasional scene for an attorney-client confrontation.

Public records show that Littler Mendelson has handled labor and employment-related matters for Cipriani, including litigation involving company staffers. ArentFox Schiff and New York’s Gottlieb, Rackman & Reisman have respectively advised on contract and trademark issues, such as for its Bellini cocktail.

Thompson began the first decade of his 25-year legal career doing corporate work at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz in New York. He joined Richard Branson’s Virgin Group Holdings Ltd. in 2008. Thompson spent more than a half-dozen years working with other lawyers on a variety of legal matters for the billionaire. He moved to Branson’s Virgin Hotels in 2016.

Standard—owner of the Standard, Peri, and Bunkhouse boutique hotel brands—agreed in August to sell itself for up to $335 million to Hyatt Hotels Corp. The company didn’t respond to a request for comment about Thompson’s departure or if it plans to recruit a new legal chief ahead of closing its sale.