Monthly Archives: May 2017
Goldstein Law Firm Honored as Law Awards 2017’s Franchise Law Firm of the Year
May 19, 2017 - Blog by Jeffrey M. Goldstein |We are proud to announce that the Goldstein Law Firm was recently named “Franchise Law Firm of the Year” in the 2017 edition of Finance Monthly’s Law Awards. According to a press release from Finance Monthly announcing this year’s award winners: “Every year[,] the Finance Monthly Law Awards recognise and celebrate law firms and legal professionals from all over the world who, over the past twelve months, have consistently excelled in all aspects of their work and set new standards of client service.” The nomination and review process for Finance Monthly’s Law Awards involves months of work by a “diligent research team and dedicated judging panel,” who are tasked with producing a list of winners that represents, “some of the most successful and trusted legal professionals and law firms from across the globe.” “[A] franchise law firm dedicated to you, the franchisee.” Law firms honored as recipients of the Law Awards are featured in a special edition of Finance Monthly. In announcing the Goldstein Law Firm as Franchise Law Firm of the Year, the Law Awards 2017 describe our firm as, “a franchise law firm dedicated to you, the franchisee.” Unlike other franchise law firms that represent both franchisees and franchisors (and which, in reality, predominantly represent franchisors), the Goldstein Law Firm is exclusively dedicated to representing the interests of active and prospective franchise owners. Another factor distinguishing the Goldstein Law Firm from other franchise law firms is our representation in both transactional and dispute-resolution matters. Founding attorney Jeffrey M. […]
Goldstein Prevails on MTD in Case Against Bathtub Manufacturer Franchisor
May 15, 2017 - Blog by Jeffrey M. Goldstein |GLF Prevails on MTD in Case Against Bathtub Manufacturer Franchisor The definition of franchise is not always clear, as this case shows. A marketer/seller/installer of walk-in bathtubs in the New York and New Jersey area could qualify as a franchise with standing to assert counterclaims against Safe Step Walk In Tub Co. (Safe Step) under the franchising laws of those states and Connecticut and Rhode Island, the federal district court in New York City has ruled. Therefore, a motion by Safe Step for dismissal of these counterclaims was denied. Safe Step alleged that agreements between the parties constituted franchises under the Connecticut Franchise Act, New Jersey Franchise Practices Act, New York Franchise Act, and Rhode Island Franchise Investment Act. Given the basis of the allegations and the plain terms of the agreements, it was easy to find that the parties’ relationship could plausibly constitute a franchisor-franchisee relationship under the FTC Rule, the court noted. The FTC Rule had three main prongs in its definition of a franchise: (1) the use of the franchisor’s marks; (2) the franchisor’s provision of marketing assistance or control over the franchisee’s operations; and (3) the franchisor’s collection of a franchise fee as a condition of the franchisee’s commencing operation. Here, the first prong of the FTC Rule was undoubtedly met at because the installer distributes goods that are identified or associated with Safe Step’s trademarks. The second prong was also met, since the alleged involvement by Safe Step in the installer’s business operations could amount […]
New Legal Gestalt Needed for Franchise Relationships in USA
May 13, 2017 - Franchise Articles by Jeffrey M. Goldstein |New Legal Gestalt Needed for Franchise Relationships in USA By: Jeffrey M. Goldstein A recent franchise termination case involving a French franchisee of a French franchisor has many similarities to the prototypical wrongful franchise termination in the United States; the only real difference is that when the case was tried in France the franchisor was found guilty of an unfair franchise termination while if the case had been tried in the United States the franchisor would have walked scot-free. In this case, the French bakery brand Paul operated under a master franchise agreement that called for the opening of 18 outlets in the south of France over a five-year period. After opening, the franchisee found itself facing debilitating financial difficulties after having opened only five of the 18 required outlets. After the franchisor’s proposed onerous terms for settlement were rejected by the franchisee, the franchisor sent a default notice to the franchisee for failure to open the remaining locations in the franchise agreement. The franchisee was not able to build the new stores, and the franchisor terminated the franchisee. The franchisee’s primary defense was that the franchisor was liable for inaccuracies in the business plan for the opening of 18 outlets in five years and that the plan itself was unrealistic because it was based on overly optimistic and false financial data. On this basis, the franchisee argued that the termination was wrongful based on the franchisor’s pre-contractual duty of disclosure. In affirming the lower Paris Court of Appeal’s […]