Rana Dershowitz Aspen Skiing Company

www.vanguardlawmag.com Rana Dershowitz Aspen Skiing Company Cutting a fresh trail in the Colorado Mountains

Produced by Sean O’Reilly and Written by Matt Dodge

spen is one of the world’s most iconic A background in sports and leisure alpine skiing destinations. Situated in the middle of the White River National Forest After graduating Harvard Law School in 1995, Dershowitz spent just outside the city of Aspen, Colorado, her first few years as an associate at two New York City law firms Athe 11,212-foot peak is part of the larger Aspen/ before joining the team at Madison Square Garden LP as vice winter resort complex operated by Aspen president of legal and business affairs. In this post, Dershowitz Skiing Company that includes Aspen Mountain, got her first exposure to the sports and leisure industry as she , family-friendly and the tackled legal matters related to several major professional towering Snowmass. sports franchises including the NBA’s New York Knicks, NHL’s New York Rangers and WNBA’s New York Liberty. While the name Aspen has become virtually synonymous with high quality skiing, the ski industry In 2007 Dershowitz moved from New York City to the mountains is not solely about fast lifts and fresh powder. of Colorado to take on the role of deputy general counsel at the As Aspen Skiing Company’s general counsel, U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) in Colorado Springs. “When I Rana Dershowitz oversees the company’s legal heard about the job on the Olympic Committee I was fascinated department, tackling the myriad legal issues that by the idea,” says Dershowitz. “I was a gymnast as a kid, and face a business such as Aspen Skiing Company. that was when Mary Lou Retton was America’s darling, so it just had a really special place for me growing up.”

2 Rana Dershowitz, chief general counsel

While Dershowitz originally joined the USOC team as deputy “For the large part though, everything has already happened general counsel, she quickly rose through the ranks and was and the legal work is largely in the past,” she says. “During named interim general counsel less than one month after her the Games, we were focused as organization on the hosting arrival and full general counsel nine months later. In addition activities; it’s really between Games when we’re implementing to her role as chief general counsel, Dershowitz oversaw the new strategic plans.” USOC’s legal and government relations departments, a role that saw her actively participating in the Olympic bidding process Head for the hills and acting as the primary business liaison between the USOC and a major independent doping agency. After more than seven years with the USOC, Dershowitz decided she was ready for a change of pace. “It was intriguing from a “I also worked on the development of the USOC headquarters, a legal perspective, but I was ready for a change at that point public/private partnership that resulted in a new headquarters in my career,” she says. “I liked the idea of getting into the in Colorado Springs,” she says. for-profit side of the world and when I heard about the position with Aspen Skiing Company, it seemed like a fantastic way to be While many imagine the role of general counsel for the USOC to exposed to new approaches to business.” entail three quiet years followed by one year of nonstop action, Dershowitz says this is far from the case. “From a pure legal Founded in 1946 by , Aspen Skiing Company perspective, things actually quiet down quite a bit as the games owns and operates the four ski resorts, as well as multiple approach,” she says. restaurants, retail stores and two hotels, with another in the works. While Aspen operates in the same sports and leisure This doesn’t mean that Dershowitz simply got to sit back and world that Dershowitz has spent her career in, the multifaceted cheer the U.S. to Olympic gold. During her first Olympic Games company presents her with a number of new challenges. in Beijing, Dershowitz had to work with the Chinese authorities and the U.S. State Department when a mentally ill person “The ski industry is a different industry with very different stabbed several spectators, including the parents of a U.S. approaches,” says Dershowitz. During her time at Aspen, she Olympian. In London, Dershowitz worked to resolve a dispute has been called to work on legal issues ranging from real estate surrounding the results of the men’s 200-meter sprint and development to dealing with the National Forest Service — the during the Vancouver games she helped determine whether owner of the land on which Aspen is based. “Learning about the a U.S. athlete arrested at the games should be allowed to Forest Service dynamic has been a fascinating opportunity,” compete or be sent home. she says.

3 Since her arrival at Aspen, Dershowitz has worked to update the company’s contracting policy — an initiative that’s been very well received by management. “We simplified the policy and made it more realistic to ensure greater compliance. The process continues to date, with new initiatives in the works to provide even more checks and balances without bogging the company down in bureaucracy,” she says.

In addition to her overhaul of the contracting procedure, Dershowitz helped solve a legal dispute with a wireless transmitter provider that was interfering with the company’s ability to provide wireless internet coverage across the resort. She was also instrumental in helping to build a more formalized framework for the Mountain Collective, a consortium of some of the world’s top ski resorts. While Dershowitz does not see driving the business as her job, she is always working to look down the road on which the company is traveling to help manage any risks that might pop up along the way. “It’s about understanding where the business is trying to go and helping the business people chart the most effective path. I see my role as helping to drive the business to where it is efficient and effective with less risk,” she says.

Dershowitz employs an example from her time with Madison Square Garden to demonstrate the value of a general counsel who can think in the long term. When the company wanted to use a puppet as a main feature in the halftime show, Dershowitz stepped in and helped lay out the roadmap for what sort of issues that promotion could lead to. “I asked, if it was successful, would you do it in later games, would you merchandize it? You’ve got to think about the long-term hypotheticals,” she says.

4 A good general counsel is an invaluable asset to an Aspire. organization like Aspen Skiing Company, but one that often doesn’t get the credit it deserves until Ascend. it’s too late. “It’s of huge value, but often that only Attain. becomes apparent to people when they get burned because they suddenly understand how things could have been different,” she says.

While Aspen Skiing Company is poised for growth, Dershowitz says the company itself will retain all those aspects that drew her to it in the first place. “We want to grow in a way that maintains our connection to our core values and doesn’t change us as a business,” she says. “The company really takes those values to heart from top to bottom, and as leaders of the company we all recognize how special that is.”

As long as the snow continues to fall, Aspen Skiing Holland & Hart salutes Rana Dershowitz, Company, with the backing and expertise of general General Counsel of Aspen Skiing Company. counsel Rana Dershowitz, will remain a top skiing Your professionalism and leadership and outdoor recreation destination for thrill seekers are an inspiration to us all. worldwide. •

In Aspen Since 1965 600 East Main Street, Suite 104 Aspen, CO 81611 970.925.3476 www.hollandhart.com Contact: Mark Hamilton [email protected]

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