The Goldstein Law Firm is privileged to announce that firm founder Jeffrey M. Goldstein has recently been named a Global Law Expert in franchise law. Based in London, Global Law Experts (GLE) recognizes exceptional attorneys worldwide and is billed as, “[t]he premier guide to leading legal professionals throughout the world.” Recognition by Global Law Experts provides notable distinction: GLE recognizes just one attorney in each practice area per county. According to GLE’s website, it is the only organization to do so. Consideration requires a peer recommendation or approval by Global Law Experts’ research department, and all candidates must complete, “an intensive research process before being passed onto the Nominations Panel for final assessment and validation.” Each year, GLE sends its Recommendation Questionnaire to over 45,000 business leaders, advisors and in-house attorneys to solicit recommendations for the world’s leading attorneys. About Global Law Experts Global Law Experts currently recommends and endorses lawyers in 140 countries and over 50 areas of practice. Rather than focusing solely on attorneys at large international law firms, GLE also understands that the level of service provided by attorneys at smaller boutique practices can often exceed that provided by partners in Big Law. As stated by GLE: “It’s often easy to assume bigger means better, but that is not always the case with law firms; boutique practices specialise in just one legal field and as a result can often offer the same (if not better) advice on a more personal level at a typically lower hourly rate […]

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The High Court in Kuala Lumpur, in refusing to prohibit a former franchisee from operating independently after a termination, caused more damage to the Franchisor (Chatime Fusion Tea House) than a horde of Helopeltes. The Judge ruled that the Franchisor’s termination was in bad faith and that an injunction preventing the Franchisee from operating would “cause great injustice.” The Franchisee in the case was so angry that he filed a police report regarding the termination.  Too funny. The Goldstein Law Firm has recently been successful in seven straight injunctive cases even though these types of emergency actions are the most difficult to win for franchisees.  http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2017/05/29/court-dismisses-chatimes-bid-for-injunction-against-ex-franchise-holder/      

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The Goldstein Law Firm is pleased to announce that founding attorney Jeffrey M. Goldstein has been named among the Esteemed Lawyers of America®. This is the third time this year Mr. Goldstein and the firm have been awarded for their achievements and client service, following the firm’s recognition as Best Franchise Disputes Law Firm 2017 – USA by Acquisition International and Franchise Law Firm of the Year in the 2017 Finance Monthly Law Awards. Esteemed Lawyers of America® (ELOA) is an organization whose mission is, “to recognize the most respected lawyers in the country.” It seeks to help individuals and businesses find quality legal representation by offering a list of attorneys who are both (i) recommended by their peers, and (ii) qualified for recognition based upon their experience, commitment to client service and ethical standards. As described by the organization: “ELOA was established to honor those attorneys who are the most respected and esteemed by their peers throughout the legal community, and to help consumers identify them. . . . The best attorneys are being replaced by better marketers[,] and consumers don’t often know who the finest lawyers are anymore. By identifying the top lawyers as determined by the people who know them best – other lawyers – and educating the public as to who they are, Esteemed Lawyers of America® aims to change that.” Selection Criteria for Esteemed Lawyers of America® Membership in Esteemed Lawyers of America® is conditioned upon successful completion of a two-stage application process. The first […]

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Beer Brewer’s Wrongful Termination of Dealer Turns Out to be Grist for the Mill for Beer Distributor By: Jeffrey M. Goldstein The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington recently ruled that a terminated beer franchisee could sue the beer manufacturer for non-statutory damages caused by the franchisor’s termination of the distribution contract without cause. Odom Corp. v. Pabst Brewing Co., No. C17-5279-RBL, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 81348 (W.D. Wash. May 26, 2017). As the Court phrased the issue: “This case concerns whether, when a beer supplier terminates its distributor’s contract without cause, Washington’s Wholesale Distributors and Suppliers of Spirits or Malt Beverages Act, chapter 19.126 RCW, provides the distributor with a single remedy: ‘compensation from the successor distributor for the laid-in cost of inventory and for the fair market value of the terminated distribution rights.’” The case is interesting for four reasons. First, even though almost every state has beer distribution relationship legislation, there is a dearth of reported decisions regarding beer franchise terminations; this is primarily because almost all replacements of beer distributors are negotiated and include the payment of agreed-upon fair market value. Second, Pabst’s defenses in the case were not traditional ‘good cause’ arguments usually asserted to justify a termination; instead, the beer franchisor embraced a troika of somewhat absurd schoolyard bully arguments, to wit: the rules in the statute (enacted to prevent unjust terminations by brewers) don’t apply to me (even though I’m a brewer); the rules in the beer franchisor act allow terminations […]

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