Preparing your Case
There is no such thing as a typical franchise as the name embraces so many different concepts. Certainly, there is no English legal definition and the definition used by the European Commission is vague in the extreme. As a result it is difficult to define franchise law or the franchise lawyer. Working with franchises requires experience in many different areas of law.
Franchisors initially need to seek advice as to whether the business is franchiseable, if so, the type of franchise you should choose. Next they need advice with the actual writing or adapting of the agreement.
The service of a franchise lawyer may not be needed when granting a pre-prepared franchise agreement to individual franchisees, which obviously saves money. However, they are needed on each transaction where the grant of a franchise includes the transfer of premises or substantial assets or the granting of a lease.
Franchising unfortunately is not only about granting franchises. Sometimes it is necessary to terminate franchise agreements or assist franchisors in the defence of claims brought by dissatisfied franchisees.
Franchisees need to seek advice as to whether they are getting into a good franchise and occasionally how to get out of a bad one.
So often purchasers of lower priced franchises (up to £12,000) take no legal advice before parting with their savings. Franchise lawyers advise 50% of prospective franchisees who do consult them first against buying into their chosen franchise.
It is almost impossible to recover a franchise fee paid to a bad or fraudulent franchisor.
For a fixed fee of around £500 a franchise lawyer will advise a prospective franchisee:
Contact Geoffrey Sturgess on 023 9283 2200
