A franchise is only as successful as the legal documents and business practices that define it. And there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. To be profitable over time, a franchise must ensure that its agreements are tailored to its business model and designed to maximize flexibility and minimize risk. Canned language just won’t cut it.

Established and growing franchises can benefit significantly from a “refresh” of their disclosure documents, franchise agreements and ancillary documents. Updates are essential to stay current with business trends and developments in the law. Strategically, too, it’s vital to be confident that any future disputes will resolved quickly, fairly and economically.

Equally important are the practices and procedures a franchise follows. Wrong moves in the on-boarding process can frustrate even the smartest business goals set down on paper. An audit by an experienced franchise lawyer can identify and cure such problems and set in place a modernized set of best practices to ensure that relationships with franchisees start off on the proper footing.

Fox’s Franchise & Distribution Practice has created two distinct packages of services to address these issues. Both are offered at a flat fee that will be tailored to your company’s size and complexity.

The Franchise Audit Program

The power of a franchise to enforce its agreements can sometimes hinge as much on its actual business practices as the wording of its legal documents.

In the Franchise Audit, our lawyers scrutinize how your internal team is on-boarding franchisees, with a focus on comparing best practices to actual practices.

We provide a step-by-step guide for on-boarding new franchisees – what to sign, what to do – as well as best practices for defaulting franchisees to ensure compliance with state specific laws. The program also includes guidance on launching an e-signature program like DocuSign.

Deliverables:

• An audit report to identify gaps in the on boarding process
• A step-by-step on-boarding guide tailored to your system’s franchise documents
• Telephone and email consult to launch an e signature program like DocuSign
• A best practices memo for defaulting franchisees to comply with state-specific laws

The Franchise Document Suite Refresh

When was the last time you read your company’s franchise agreement and disclosure documents? How confident are you that all of the provisions comply with current law and afford your brand the flexibility to expand or launch a new product line? Is your termination clause enforceable?

The Franchise Document Suite Refresh is geared toward established franchise companies that may have been using the same set of documents for several years. It addresses commonly overlooked issues as well as provisions impacted by COVID-19, recent legal decisions, regulatory developments and industry trends.

Franchise Disclosure Document

• FTC Compliance Check
• Compliant NASAA guidelines

Franchise Agreement

Revised sections on:

• Cybersecurity and data privacy
• Insurance
• Dispute resolution
• Social media