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Is Franchising Doomed?
Strategies for Negotiating with a Franchisee and Franchisor
Before committing to a franchise business, consider...
In a franchisor’s suit against its franchisee and that franchisee’s new business, a federal court in Kansas recently denied the new business’ motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction. HappyFeet-Legends Int’l, Inc....more
The California Court of Appeals upheld a lower court’s decision finding that a Texas court had personal jurisdiction over a California franchisee. GlobalCFO, LLC and GlobalCFO Franchise, LLC (collectively, “GlobalCFO”),...more
A federal court in Michigan recently granted a motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction against one owner of a franchisor, while denying the motion to dismiss against the other owner and granting the franchisor’s...more
A federal district court in Texas denied an individual defendant’s motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction, finding the defendant—the owner of the company that was granted a franchise—was bound in his individual...more
Lyvette Mercado Velez, a dietitian, entered into a distribution agreement with Insulet Corporation, a leading medical device manufacturer, to promote and sell diabetes treatment products and services in Puerto Rico. Shortly...more
A federal court in New York recently granted a motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction in an action asserting claims that franchisor Hyatt Corporation acted with negligence in connection with assaults to guests...more
In Alamo Intermediate II Holdings, LLC. v. Birmingham Alamo Movies, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, denied franchise owner Hunter Renfroe’s motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction. The...more
In Bank United, NA v. GC of Vineland, LLC, Karen and William Scism and GC Vineland, LLC (“GVC”) (collectively the “Scism Parties”) filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey against Golden...more
A Maryland federal district court denied a restaurant franchisor’s motion to dismiss, concluding that a restaurant manager at a franchised location alleged sufficient facts to support a finding that the franchisor is a joint...more
A federal district court in Florida denied a former moving and junk hauling franchisee’s motion to dismiss claims of trademark infringement and unfair competition by franchisor College Hunks Hauling Junk (“CHHJ”)....more
A federal court in Maine granted a franchisor’s motion to dismiss claims asserting that a franchisor was liable for its franchisee’s alleged age discrimination in employment. Goodwill v. Anywhere Real Est., 2023 WL 4034372...more
A federal court in Michigan granted a motion to dismiss claims that franchisor Bateel International, LLC had violated the Michigan Franchise Investment Law and the Texas Business Opportunity Act. Luxury Concepts, Inc. v....more
A federal district court denied a pizza franchisor’s motion to dismiss a former franchisee’s complaint, finding the former franchisee sufficiently pleaded the franchisor coerced the franchisee into signing a general release....more
A federal bankruptcy court in Delaware has dismissed time-barred claims that a Chapter 7 Trustee alleged on behalf of a bankrupt franchisor, AVF Franchising, LLC, against several of its franchisees. In re Start Man Furniture,...more
A federal court in Maryland granted a foreign hotel franchisee’s motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction but denied a forum non conveniens motion in a personal injury case naming both franchisor and franchisee as...more
A federal court in Florida dismissed an action by franchisees against their franchisor for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction. The franchisees asserted claims under California and Florida laws alleging the franchisor, OR...more
A federal court in Virginia denied tax franchisor, Liberty Tax’s, motion to dismiss complaints by two of its area developers (“ADs”). The ADs claimed Liberty Tax breached their contract for wrongfully terminating, failing to...more
A franchisee sued real estate franchisor Century 21 for a declaration whether the franchisee could end its franchise agreement early despite a provision that deleted the franchisee’s early termination right. Noting the...more
Welcome to The Franchise Memorandum by Lathrop GPM, formerly known as The GPMemorandum. Periodically, The Franchise Memorandum focuses on topics primarily of interest to companies that use distributors and dealers rather than...more
A series of cases decided last December included claims under four different states’ franchise laws, and thus serve as a compact case study of the circumstances when the franchise laws of these states—New York, Michigan,...more
Called upon by the Ninth Circuit in Ixchel Pharma, LLC v. Biogen, Inc. to answer two key questions concerning the validity of a settlement provision requiring a party’s termination of a collaboration agreement with a...more
A federal court in Alabama denied an urgent care franchisee’s motion to dismiss a suit brought by its franchisor. The franchisee argued the franchise agreement required suits to be brought within a one-year period. But the...more
A gasoline franchisee defeated a motion to dismiss brought by its franchisor, seeking to avoid a claim under the federal Petroleum Marketing Practices Act (PMPA). In 2018, Global Companies (Global) sent the franchisee a...more
• The Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have indicated in the past that they believe that certain agreements between employers not to poach each other’s employees are...more
Hot dog franchisor, Charlie Graingers, was unable to obtain dismissal of a federal lawsuit brought by franchisees alleging fraud, misrepresentation and breach of fiduciary duty....more