Increased competition is one of the most significant challenges the franchising industry faces today. In recent years, it has become increasingly difficult for franchisors to sustain a competitive edge.
The attorneys of Keevican Weiss & Bauerle LLC
understand the franchise business and can provide the edge to help
position companies to compete effectively in today's markets.
How can Keevican Weiss & Bauerle LLC serve the operator whose
main concern is focused on what happens "within the four walls"?
The answer is simple. Our knowledge of franchising and the many
concerns faced by franchisors and franchisees has provided
invaluable assistance to franchisors whose interests range from
on-property concerns to franchise-building to capital raising to
litigation.
The following partial list of franchisors and franchisees that we
have represented demonstrates the depth of our experience.
Franchisors
Franchisees
Examples of the variety of matters on which we have worked include:
Many of our practice areas are used by our franchising
clients, including:
Corporate Finance
Whether the goals of a franchise are accessing conventional debt
financing through traditional sources such as banks or equipment
lenders; negotiating venture capital investments; structuring
private placement offerings; preparing for an initial public
offering; or negotiating a merger or acquisition, the lawyers of
Keevican Weiss & Bauerle LLC have the experience necessary to
achieve the desired results creatively with the unique
understanding of the challenges inherent in the franchising
industry.
Real Estate
One of the most significant factors in the success of any franchise
is securing a good location. Saturated markets are causing
franchisors to be more creative in selecting territories. Operators
must ensure that a suitable site with strong visibility and easy
access is obtained at a reasonable cost. Keevican Weiss &
Bauerle LLC has worked with franchisor clients to develop site
selection criteria with the attributes uniquely suited to their
industries as well as the processes to assure compliance by their
franchisees.
Some concepts require placement in areas with high volumes of
pedestrian traffic. Other concepts are destination-oriented,
relying less on "high cost, high visibility" locations and more on
demographics and access. Whether the location ultimately selected
is a shopping mall, urban shopping area, strip center or
free-standing location, we have worked with companies to ensure all
of their needs are met in construction, contracts, zoning and
leases.
Franchising & Joint Development Agreements
Franchising and area development agreements often prove to be the
proper vehicles to enable quick expansion of their chains,
establish market presence and gain wide acceptance of a concept
with minimal outlays of cash.
Keevican Weiss & Bauerle LLC regularly develops franchise and
area development plans for restaurateurs. We have also identified
where these techniques would not be successful strategies and
advised clients accordingly while developing feasible
alternatives.
Employment
As most operators are aware, attracting and retaining key personnel
is crucial to the success of any multiunit franchising concept.
Entrepreneurs are often faced with the difficulty of finding
management candidates to assist in generating growth. Keevican
Weiss & Bauerle LLC helps to develop programs to motivate
management personnel and ensure the loyalty of workers while
protecting against violations of proprietary rights.
Trademarks and Trade Secret Protection
We understand the importance of brands and trademarks, particularly
for our franchising clients. We work with them to develop and
analyze the probability of getting their marks registered and then
prosecute their registrations. In addition, we assist them in
policing their marks against infringements, including through
demand letters, bringing infringement actions and obtaining
judgments or favorable settlements for them.
We also know that it is important to our franchising clients that
they protect their trade secrets. From making sure they properly
take the steps and use the methods and documents they need to
protect their confidential and proprietary information to seeking
patent protection for technical expertise or specialized equipment
or processes, if and when appropriate, we make sure they obtain and
preserve their trade secrets to the full extent possible.
Litigation
Disputes, commercial or otherwise, are facts of life. Depending on
how disputes are dealt with, they either end up in litigation or
reach settlement. The cost and consumption of time to reach either
resolution, however, may have a significant impact on your
business. In today's highly regulated workplace, disputes create
constant jeopardy to franchise operators.
The goal is to avoid these disputes through preventative planning.
The litigation attorneys of Keevican Weiss & Bauerle LLC have
significant experience in representing companies in all facets of
dispute resolution whether through litigation, mediation,
arbitration or informal settlement. Our experience includes
representing clients in class-action securities law suits,
franchisor/franchisee disputes, termination actions, workers'
compensation claims and product liability disputes, as well as
other types of claims.
Whether you are faced with sexual harassment charges by your
employees, dram shop claims, defiant franchisees,
shareholder/partner disputes or securities fraud action, our
litigation attorneys have the experience necessary to resolve these
matters efficiently and effectively, with a concern for controlling
costs and reducing disruption to your business.
