Child Care Franchisee Thwarts the Impact of its Franchise Termination by Confusing Everyone By: Jeffrey M. Goldstein (202) 359-0441 In The Art of War, Sun Tzu states, inter alia, that “The whole secret lies in confusing the enemy, so that he cannot fathom our real intent.” Sometimes, but not often, this strategy, if used by a franchisee, works in combatting the enforcement of a post term restrictive covenant following a franchise termination. As an attorney representing only franchisees and dealers, I’ve historically been repeatedly accosted by potential franchisee and dealer clients demanding that I provide them with a certifiable blueprint for how to ‘get around’ the post term restrictive covenants in their franchise and dealership agreements. These provisions in essence prevent a terminated franchisee from operating an ongoing or future business similar to that of the former franchise business for a period of time after the termination of the franchise, thereby, in some cases, preventing the terminated franchisee from earning a living. I usually tell them that, although in the old days it was possible to devise a ‘work around’ to this legal road block, today it is exceedingly difficult to do so.  Very simply, most franchise and dealer agreements nowadays do not contain many of the old-style loopholes (e.g., sales to wife, child, brother, mother-in-law, close friends, etc.) Further, in today’s legal system, courts have become much more adept at factually piercing the corporate veils and trails associated with secret transfers and sales. Accordingly, after reading a recent decision […]

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Perpetual Termination Jockeying In the Hotel Franchise World   Jan. 2016 By: Jeffrey M. Goldstein 202 293-3947 Seemingly, more than in other franchise niches, hotel franchises seem to be signed-up and then discarded by schisophrenic hotel franchisors. On any given day any particular hotel can be a ‘perfect fit’ for the brand, and, then, 6 months later, after initial fees have been paid to the franchisor, and after another newer or larger potential replacement property coincidentallybecomes available in that market, the initial hotel is deemed a ‘terrible fit.’ Usually observers justifiably focus on the negative financial impact of questionable terminations on the hotel owners (franchisees) themselves, without too much consideration regarding the impact on the hotel brands. Below, however, it is difficult, after reading the article, to come away with a good view of the franchisor, Ramada. Further, it looks like Ramada is having to get into the weeds itself to deal with the unhappy guests whose vacations have been scuttled by the termination. Why was the owner of the hotel allowed initially to purchase the brand? How realistic (financially and temporally) was the list of repairs demanded by the franchisor on the hotel owner? What assistance did Ramada directly provide to the owner to help it meet the chalenges? How swiftly did Ramada meet the requests for assistance that were made by the franchisee for assistance?   Resort ‘not up to scratch’ The Gold Coast Bulletin (Australia) December 9, 2015 Wednesday, GoldCoast Edition Copyright 2015 Nationwide News Pty Limited All Rights Reserved Section: NEWS; Pg. 3 Length: 432 words Byline: JENNY […]

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