Hiring a Franchise Attorney

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Hiring a franchise attorney can be one of the most important decisions you make when launching your franchise system or becoming a franchisee.

For Franchisors. The regulatory compliance necessary for a franchisor is crucial from the start, in order to better ensure insulation from future liability, and the franchise agreement will be the first thing you use to mold your relationships with franchisees. An experienced franchise attorney should have the ability to guide you through the process, and be thorough in drafting documents in order to properly protect you.

For Franchisees. As a franchisee, the franchise disclosure document will provide important information needed to choose a franchise system, and a franchise lawyer can help you decipher the information, as well as possibly uncover what has not been disclosed. Further, an experienced franchise attorney should be able to advise you on your franchise agreement, its terms, as well as assist in negotiation and amendments to the franchise contracts.

For information about How to Franchise, click here.

For information about legal Services for Franchisors, click here.

For information about Becoming a Franchisee, click here.

Achieve Legal Franchise Lawyer

Josh Logan, Achieve Legal's principal attorney, has been a practicing franchise lawyer for nearly 10 years, and now focuses almost solely on helping people with franchising, buying franchises, selling franchises, and becoming franchisees.

Franchise Attorney Logan had the rare opportunity begin the study of franchise law while still in law school a decade ago, where he authored the paper, "The Application of Good Faith & Fair Dealing in Franchise Territory Disputes," which earned him top marks.

Since that time, he sought to work at one of the few dealer and franchise law firms in Tallahassee, Florida, where he largely assisted with auto dealer mergers and acquisitions, as well as with frranchised dealer legislation, and auto dealer disputes with manufacturers.

Now, through Achieve Legal, and for the past several years, Josh Logan is able to focus his time almost solely as a franchise lawyer, and has helped serve clients in over 30 cities, 6 states, and 4 countries. For more about this franchise lawyer, click here.

What a Franchise Attorney Does

Typically, as franchise lawyers, we perform the following services:

For Franchisors-

Franchising
Drafting Franchise Disclosure Documents
Drafting Franchise Agreements & Addenda
Drafting Other Franchise Contracts
Franchise Registration Filings
Franchise Regulatory Compliance & Converting Licensees
Drafting Franchise Area Development Agreements
Legal Due Diligence on Franchise Applicants

For Franchisees-

Legal Due Diligence on Franchisors
Franchise Disclosure Documents Consulting
Franchise Agreements Consulting & Negotiations
Drafting Other Franchise Agreement Addenda
Helping Buy a Franchised Business
Helping Sell a Franchised Business
Review Commercial Lease Agreements & Negotiation

Franchise Law

The franchise relationship may be one of the most unique in the business world. As a result, franchise laws are very unique, both at the federal level, an in many instances, at the state level. Choosing Achieve Legal is choosing a franchise lawyer who has helped shape laws, form franchises, litigated franchise termination cases and handled an an array of franchisor-franchisee related disputes.

What is a Franchise?

State laws defining a franchise, if any, generally vary slightly from state to state, but mostly are closely aligned with the federal regulations. The Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") states, in sum, a franchise is created whenever there is the existence of the following arrangements:

A license to use trademarks and/or trade names of and by the franchisor, to the franchisee;
Significant assistance to, or control of, the franchisee, by the franchisor; and
Payment from the franchisee to franchisor of an amount greater than $500.

The next questions become, what constitutes significant assistance, or control, and what type of payment would be factored for purposes of determining the existence of a franchise relationship? The FTC gives some guidance:

"Assistance" in a franchise system may include help with physical site selection, design or appearance, production techniques, accounting practices, as well as other factors.

"Control" in a franchise system may include any of the types of assistance listed above, as well as mandated hours of operation, restrictions on customers or terittories and personell policies, inventory controls, required displays, as well as other factors.

"Payment" in an amount exceeding $500 in total of all payments in the first six months of operation, for purposes of determing whether a franchise system exists most obviously be the payment of a franchise fee, but also could be conveyed in the form of rent, an advertising fee, for payment for equipment or supplies including promotional materials, a training fee, payment for accounting services, equipment rental fees, or royalties.

What the classifaction of a "franchise" means to you:

If you are a business operating as a franchise under the FTC definition, or under the definition of any applicable state laws, you are required to make (or have made) certain disclosures to the franchisee, and to deal under certain standards of fairness with franchisees.

Conversely, if you are operating as a franchisee under what is a franchise system as set forth above, you may be entitled to certain compensation, protections and benefits from your franchisor.

For consultation with a licensed franchise attorney,

call (407) 502-2580, or fill out the contact form on this page.

For information about How to Franchise, click here.

For information about legal Services for Franchisors, click here.

For information about Becoming a Franchisee, click here.