This half-day program provides a comprehensive overview of U.S. franchise law for those who want a thorough introduction to this field, as well as those who want a refresher on one or more areas of franchise law practice. Some of the nation’s top franchise lawyers will speak on structuring the franchise relationship, disclosure and registration requirements, defining and protecting a franchise system’s intellectual property, franchise relationship laws, antitrust issues in franchising, and representation of franchisees.
Speakers:
Christopher P. Bussert
Edward W. Dunham
Ronald K. Gardner
Kathie S. Lee
Michael K. Lindsey
Dennis E. Wieczorek
I-2 MBA Concepts for Franchise Lawyers
Whether they are litigators or transactional lawyers, the most effective franchise counsel understand not only the business of franchising, but its financial underpinnings.This half-day crash course in business administration will provide a general overview of the business and financial concepts used in the franchising industry, by both franchisors and franchisees. Topics to be covered include: basic accounting, quantitative analysis and performance mechanisms (ROI, ROA, time value of money, NPV, etc.) and an overview of financial statements (balance sheet, cash flow, and profit and loss statements).The program will also examine multiple ways of valuing companies, including a discussion of discounting and present value calculations.The speakers will also discuss basic business concepts such as managing cash flow and funding choices (debt versus equity).By integrating these business concepts within the franchise law framework, attendees will be better prepared for advising their clients on corporate structuring issues, acquisitions and mergers, and calculating or rebutting damages in a franchise dispute.
Speakers:
Ann Hurwitz
David E. Hood
Keith Kravcik
Tamika Tremaglio
I-3 Successful International Franchising: The Legal and Business Considerations
This half-day program will provide a practical and fundamental overview of issues that a franchisor and its counsel confront when deciding to expand, and expanding into off-shore markets. The program will highlight the business aspects of international expansion, whether reactive or proactive, including the considerations affecting the franchisor's readiness to expand, identification, analysis and selection of target markets, analysis of the economic models for successful expansion, finding suitable franchise partners in the local markets, setting fees and development schedules, franchise system adaptation for new markets, cultural considerations, negotiation approaches, implementation issues and management of international growth. Legal considerations include intellectual property protection, local laws that will affect the expansion model, such as corporate, tax and franchise laws, the impact of U.S. laws with extraterritorial application, appropriate expansion structures and agreements for the relevant market, selecting and using local counsel, the impact of different legal systems, local nonfranchise-specific laws and remedies and choice of law, forum selection and alternative dispute resolution issues. All attendees will receive a copy of the ABA book Fundamentals of International Franchising.
Every seasoned franchise attorney can attest that a successful franchisor/franchisee relationship requires more than just air-tight agreements and well-designed franchise systems.Non-tangible elements such as expectations, commitment and trust also play an important role in the franchise relationship and, if inadequately fostered or mismanaged, can quickly throw a once successful franchise system into a downward spiral from which few systems can fully recover. At this plenary session, Greg Nathan, a renowned franchise relationship expert and author, will provide insight into what franchisees and franchisors truly want from one another and the attributes needed to engineer a healthy culture.The session will also demonstrate the psychological mechanisms behind the inevitable strains that can occur in any type of franchise relationship - both at the individual and group level - and how franchisees, franchisors and their attorneys can either help or hinder the relationship management process, particularly during periods of change and economic hardship.
Speaker:
Greg Nathan
Plenary 2 - Annual Developments
The Forum’s signature event; join us for a lively, thoughtful and comprehensive review of the year’s key judicial and legislative developments affecting franchising and distribution.
