Franchise Law

The Franchise Law Team at Wilentz has practiced at the forefront of franchise law for more than thirty years.  We represent franchise clients in New Jersey and elsewhere operating in diverse industries, including automotive, heavy equipment, food services, healthcare, day care, education, hotel, physical fitness, travel services and others, with an emphasis on franchisee representation. 

We provide a complete array of services for franchisees and franchisors from business formation, purchases and sales to succession planning. Our team's broad experience enables our franchise lawyers to apply a thorough understanding of franchising and franchised industries to the legal issues in this area.  By integrating with our colleagues in other areas of practice, our team can advise and assist on most issues franchise owners and operators may face, including intellectual property, employment, borrowing zoning and land use, and environmental compliance. We represent franchisees in legal disputes with franchisors, consumers and government, and provide legal services to owners of franchised businesses. For over three decades, we have served as General Counsel to the New Jersey Coalition of Automotive Retailers. Franchisors benefit from our advice in the formation of new franchising businesses and the operation of existing businesses. 

Our team provides a full range of legal services to franchisees and franchisors in New Jersey, New York and throughout the United States, including:

• Business entity formation
• Franchise formation
• UFOC preparation and review
• Preparation, review and negotiation of franchise agreements
• Review of financing agreements
• Property acquisition and leases
• Franchise Termination
• Advice as to New Jersey Franchise Practices Act
• Franchisor-franchisee disputes
• Employment Law
• Commercial Real Estate
• Buy-sell transactions
• Estate planning
• Succession planning
• Shareholder and membership agreements
• Insurance matters
• Government relations
• Litigation
• Arbitration

Franchisee Services

Your decision to acquire a franchised business is an important one and must take into account many risks that may not be readily apparent to the business owner.  We are eager to assist new franchisees with the many legal issues they may face.  We offer flat fee services to assist you with reviewing and understanding your proposed franchise agreement and lease so you can decide if a franchise is right for you, and what next steps you may wish to take. 

Franchisor Services

We are eager to assist existing franchisors with establishing business operations in New Jersey, where our knowledge of local law is invaluable.  New franchisors can also look to us to assist them in the preparation of disclosure documents, franchise agreements and the many legal issues that must be addressed prior to conducting business as a franchisor.  Our experience working with franchisees informs our advice to franchisors. 

Litigation

In the unfortunate event of a dispute, we are capable and determined to represent your best interests, whether as a franchisor or owner of a franchised business. Our firm has over thirty years of experience to bring to franchise related litigation and all related issues, such as unfair competition, copyright infringement, restrictive covenants and equitable enforcement.