Barry Kurtz – Kurtz Law Group, A Professional Corporation

Practice/Organization Description

Barry Kurtz, the sole shareholder of Kurtz Law Group, A Professional Corporation, has been licensed to practice law in California since 1973 and has specialized in the practice of franchise, general corporate and commercial real estate and transactional law since 1980, representing entrepreneurs, professionals and privately and publicly held companies engaged in a variety of businesses. The firm maintains offices in Woodland Hills, California and Santa Barbara, California. Barry was certified as a legal specialist in Franchise & Distribution Law by The State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization in July 2009.

Barry represents both franchisors and franchisees and provides the firm’s clients with a unique perspective on the issues and demands that owners and sellers and buyers of businesses face in the sale, purchase, financing and operation of their businesses. His familiarity with franchising - as an attorney, franchisor executive and franchisee developer - brings a wealth of expertise to the firm’s clients. Barry’s practical hands-on experience includes the development and administration of 22 quick service restaurants as a co-franchisee in a regional food service chain; serving as a founder, officer and director of his franchise system's franchise advisory council, independent franchisee association and marketing and new products committees; and serving, over a period of years, as outside franchise counsel, chief operating officer, vice president of national and international franchise expansion and general counsel of a national retail franchisor with 100+ units producing in excess of $60 million in annual sales.

Barry has represented clients on a wide range of subjects, including the review and preparation of Franchise Disclosure Documents (FDD) franchise registration and disclosure documents; the structuring of franchisors, franchisees, management teams and affiliated companies; work-out arrangements with distressed franchisees in lieu of termination of the relationship; the development and enforcement of system-wide standards; franchisor and franchisee litigation and termination matters; acquisitions and dispositions of franchised and independent units and businesses; commercial real estate leasing and acquisitions; and the development and implementation of regional, national and international franchise expansion programs. Barry has also presented programs on the fundamentals of franchising and franchising in the fast food business for the American Bar Association and the UCLA Extension School and on the development and implementation of demographic and information systems for franchise site selection for the National Association of Corporate Real Estate Executives. Barry was certified as a mediator by Pepperdine University, School of Law, Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution, in June 2001.

Bar Admissions

State Bar of California 1973

Certified as a Legal Specialist in Franchise & Distribution Law by The State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization in 2009

United States District Court, Central District 1973

United States District Court, Southern District 1974

Supreme Court of the Unted States 1978

Education

Southwestern University School of Law

University of California, Los Angeles

Pepperdine University School of Law

Professional Associations & Memberships

Member of the American Bar Association Section on Business Law and Forum on Franchising since 1982, member of the International Franchise Association's Legal/Legislative Committee from 1991 to 1998, appointed member of the Committee on Franchising and Distribution of the Business Law Section of the State Bar of California from 1983 to 1985 and from 1998 to 2001. Member Los Angeles County Bar Association, San Fernando Valley Bar Association, Regency Club, UCLA Bruin Professionals

Honors and Awards

Barry has earned Martindale Hubbell’s highest rating (AV) for legal ability and ethics and is listed in Martindale Hubbell’s 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 National Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers. Barry was also selected to be named in the Sutton Who’s Who in American Law in November 2011. Barry has published numerous articles on franchise law and has provided expert witness testimony in franchise litigation and arbitration proceedings for both franchisors and franchisees. Nominated for the San Fernando Valley Business Journal's "Top 25 Lawyers of the Valley" in 2007. Selected in August 2012 by the San Fernando Valley Business Journal as one of the top 7 attorneys and trusted advisors in the San Fernando Valley.

Named a 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 Super Lawyer by the Journal of Law & Politics.