Franchise Lawyers for Franchisees

Your franchise isn’t what you were promised

You put in your savings, your time and, very often, your family’s.

Somewhere between the first sales call and opening day, what you were told stopped matching what you bought. It often looks like this:

• You were shown sales or profit figures, such as a pro forma, another owner’s numbers or “you’ll break even in a few months,” that appear nowhere in Item 19 of the FDD. A franchisor generally may give you earnings figures only if they are in Item 19 (16 C.F.R. § 436.9(c)).
• The Item 19 averages came from company stores, the best units or a different market, and yours never came close.
• Closed and struggling units were never mentioned, or were left out of the numbers.
• The owners you were told to call had nothing but good things to say. Later you learned they were not the whole picture.
• The build-out and the working capital ran far past what Item 7 estimated.
• You were told the training and support would carry you, or that the business would practically run itself. Neither happened.

Now, every time you raise a problem, the franchisor gives the same answer: follow the system, spend more on local advertising, take another training.

You are not the only one. Often, other franchisees in the same system are going through the same thing, but they don’t talk to each other.

Many franchisees wait years before they talk to a lawyer. By then they have put in more money and, sometimes, important legal deadlines have already passed.

Worried your franchisor will retaliate if you hire a lawyer?

Many franchisees are. A franchisee association can speak for you without putting your name in front of the franchisor.

Every franchise system should have a truly independent franchisee association: one that represents the interests of all franchisees and gives them a collective voice to negotiate with the franchisor, instead of one owner at a time.

An association is also a way to resolve disputes. The association raises the problem and leads the negotiation, so no individual franchisee has to be identified.

Some states, including California, Illinois and Washington, make it unlawful for a franchisor to restrict its franchisees from joining an association. We help franchisees form independent associations, and we represent them.