Are you interested in starting your own franchised business? If so, you should familiarize yourself with the legal landscape. You need to understand Franchise & Distribution Law and find the right attorneys to help you navigate it.
The Law Office of Kenneth J Nota recommends that you, as a franchisee, educate yourself on some of the legal obstacles and issues you may encounter. For a full rundown of them, you can reference this excellent resource, but here is a snapshot of the legal landscape you should know:
- Structuring franchise programs, including preparing franchise disclosure documents, complying with federal and state regulatory requirements, and registering the franchise offering with state regulatory authorities.
- Co-branding relationships.
- Foreign country expansion through a variety of structures.
- Performing due diligence for acquirers of franchise or distribution companies.
- Drafting real estate leases and subleases.
- Enforcing termination rights.
- Ongoing compliance with applicable federal and state regulatory requirements.
- Structuring distribution programs/relationships that avoid federal and state franchise disclosure and business opportunity laws.
- Preparation of trademark, patents, and copyright applications and registration documents.
- Intellectual property licensing including software license agreements, website usage agreements, internet policy agreements, and trademark and domain name license agreements.
- And many more . . .
These are the sorts of concerns that can impact both franchisors and franchisees at every level of development, not just merely at startup. Complications like fraud or a post-termination dispute can occur when you least expect it.
Again, we reiterate that many of these problems require legal counseling. We know that your dream is to run a business. Our job, at the Law Office of Kenneth J Nota, is to prepare you for these legalities. That’s why we are excited to offer our partnership.
We’re committed to guiding you through the tenets of Franchise & Distribution Law along with everything from determining your sales structure (inside versus independent) as well as distributors, consignees, licensees, and other franchisees. We also service clients by counseling them on mergers/acquisitions/joint-ventures, risk management, intellectual property, internal investigations, compliance, and commercial lending.
We offer competitive consultation rates ($195.00/hour) and are willing to negotiate fixed fee arrangements. If you think these services can help you start your business or allow you to carefully and confidently grow it, contact the Law Office of Kenneth J Nota by phone 941-309-5270 or email us at our website.