Robert Patterson has had 40 years of experience in the hospitality industry.  His background includes six years of experience in a variety of operations in the lodging and food service industries as well as 34 years of consulting experience.  Prior to forming Paradigm at the beginning of 1996, he directed Coopers & Lybrand’s hospitality practice in Los Angeles for a five-year period.  The combination of industry and consulting experience has equipped him to provide expertise in the areas of litigation services, new development, strategic planning, marketing, accounting and control systems, and achieving operational efficiency.

Mr. Patterson's specialties include:

• Strategic planning for growth and profitability

• Litigation and expert witness services related to the hospitality industry

• Economic valuation of hotels and restaurants

• Hotel development

• Operations analysis

• Budgeting and profit planning for hotels and restaurants

• Asset monitoring and asset management of hotels

Mr. Patterson has provided litigation support and expert testimony in disputes relating to hotels, resorts, and restaurants.  In the area of hotel development, Mr. Patterson's activities have included assisting chains with metropolitan area development strategies, specific project feasibility studies, counseling clients on brand and operator selection determining the maximum justifiable investment in projects, and assisting in financial structuring.  Hotel development clients have included Holiday Inns, Choice Hotels, Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency, Tishman West Realty, and Hyatt Corporation.  Examples of specific hotels for which Mr. Patterson has performed operational analysis include the Loews Anatole, Hotel del Coronado, Century Plaza Hotel & Tower, and The Ritz-Carlton Kapalua.  In the restaurant area he has provided litigation, acquisition, strategic planning and operational analysis services to such clients as Lawry's Restaurants, MCA, Inc., Accor Corporation, Church’s Fried Chicken, Foodmaker, Inc. (Jack-in-the-Box), Pizza Hut, and El Pollo Loco.

Mr. Patterson has been the Financial Editor for Food Service Marketing Magazine, and has been a keynote speaker at many hospitality industry conferences.  He developed and conducted several seminars for the National Restaurant Association.  He has taught an Introduction to the Hotel Industry at San Francisco's Golden Gate University and Financial Management for the Hospitality Industry at Michigan State University.  Mr. Patterson supervised the writing of the Sixth Edition of the Uniform System of Accounts for Restaurants, which is published by the National Restaurant Association and conveys recommended industry charts of accounts, standard accounting procedures and reports.

Mr. Patterson received his Bachelor of Science in Hotel Administration degree "With Distinction" from Cornell University.  He also received a Master of Business Administration from Cornell University.  He is a Certified Public Accountant and holds the AICPA’s Accredited in Business Valuation (ABV) designation.  He is Chairman Emeritus of the International Society of Hospitality Consultants.