Your Trusted Virginia Franchise Lawyer
Supporting Franchisees and Franchisors in Virginia and Nationwide
Searching for a franchise attorney?
Our franchise attorneys are laser focused on delivering efficient and effective legal solutions. Regardless of whether you are a seasoned entrepreneur or new to franchising, you’ve come to the right place. You can trust Waldrop & Colvin to understand your needs and provide the legal know-how and support you need to succeed in franchising.
Our Law Firm Provides Strategic and Personalized Legal Support
As a franchise focused law firm, Waldrop & Colvin provide on-demand legal support to both franchise sellers (“franchisors”) and prospective franchise buyers (“franchisees”). Many franchise attorneys represent franchisors or franchisees – and many do a great job – but the caliber of legal services our lawyers provide is tough to beat because our law firm delivers premier legal talent with the boutique law experience.
Our Franchise Attorneys Are Knowledgable
Franchising is heavily regulated by federal and state franchise specific laws. Regardless of who you engage for franchise legal support, its essential that the attorney you select has specialized knowledge in franchise law. Our attorneys have spent countless hours working with franchisors, franchisees, and state regulators. Our franchise attorneys provide knowledgable and practical support, with a focus on what matters most to you.
Our Franchise Lawyers Are Prompt and Accessible
Accessibility matters. Our attorneys commit to remaining accessible and providing prompt assistance. As a client, you will always have a direct line of communication to a franchise attorney by email, phone, and text message. Big or small, every client gets the attention they deserve.
Our Franchise Attorneys are Focused On Results
Franchise law is a niche area of the law with many nuanced rules and requirements. Understanding the business landscape is essential when it comes to dispensing helpful legal advice and crafting solutions that cultivate an environment where entrepreneurs can achieve long-term growth and objectives. Leveraging knowledge is smart business and execution requires a partnership between business leads and business-minded attorneys. Regardless of franchisor or franchisee, we are the go-to FDD lawyers.
Our attorneys excel at providing business owners with the legal know-how they need to thrive in an ever-evolving business environment. Our lawyers handle the legal work so business leads can focus on driving growth.
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Business-minded attorneys play a pivotal role in structuring deals, negotiating contracts, and providing guidance on risk management, thereby enabling business owners to seize opportunities and navigate challenges. Our attorneys deliver the legal guidance and support franchisors need to operate in Virginia and across the United States and deliver the know-how franchisees need to evaluate franchise opportunities and launch their business.
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Our Franchise Attorneys Work with Franchisors and Franchsiees
Franchisor Tailored Legal Support
Franchising a business requires a strong ongoing working relationship between business leads and an experienced franchise attorney. From launch to maturity, a skilled franchise attorney is vital to building a strong and legally sound franchise system. This is true regardless of whether you are a seasoned franchisor with many franchise locations or an emerging brand looking to expand through franchising. Franchising is heavily regulated and requires ongoing legal updates and support services.
The primary role of a franchisor attorney is to provide comprehensive support in crafting franchise disclosure documents, franchise agreements, and other crucial legal frameworks. Beyond the initial setup of a franchise business, the attorney will play a key role in ensuring ongoing compliance with evolving regulations, minimizing legal risks, and resolving disputes efficiently. The best franchise attorneys understand the unique challenges faced by franchisors and can offer personalized strategic advice on expanding the franchise network while safeguarding the brand’s integrity.
Support from a franchise lawyer well versed in business law extends to all aspects of running a franchise system from assisting with franchisee relations, managing intellectual property concerns, engaging with vendors and suppliers, and providing ongoing guidance required to adapt to a changing business landscape.
By partnering with a knowledgeable franchise attorney, franchisors can confidently navigate the legal complexities, establish a robust foundation for their franchise system, and focus on sustainable growth and success. Planning for success and executing with precision is an essential part of building and sustaining a successful franchise system. As Virginia licensed franchise attorneys, our law firm can help clients franchise across the United States and our lawyers work diligently to secure registration in any state where the client wants to offer a franchise.
Franchisor legal support Often includes:
- Development and implementation of a plan to franchise.
- USPTO Trademark Registration.
- Collection of data and creation of the franchise disclosure document.
- Development of the franchise agreement and all ancillary contracts.
- Development of vendor and supplier contracts.
- Procurement of approval for the franchisor to offer franchises in franchise registration and filing states.
- Education of sales teams and business leads on franchise law compliance.
- Disclosure of prospects, preparation of addendums, and facilitation of franchise agreements.
- Managing and resolving franchise disputes.
- Day-to-day franchise and business legal support.
Franchisor Attorney fee structure
The traditional law firm approach relies heavily on the billable hour; however, many franchise law firms provide support on a fixed fee basis. This includes a fixed one-time fee to develop the initial FDD and a fixed ongoing monthly fee to provide support in certain key areas. We follow this approach for franchisors in developing the FDD and providing day-to-day support. The key difference between Waldrop & Colvin and other firms in terms of pricing is that we are often able to deliver a wider range of support for a lower fee.
Our franchise attorneys possess a high degree of experience across many aspects of business law and that enables them to provide support in areas where others cannot. Another advantage in choosing to work with our firm is that our attorneys do a vast majority of the legal work, not a paralegal. We keep costs low by leveraging technology and often working with clients remotely.
Once we know a little about your business, we will provide a flat fee quote to draft and issue the FDD and a flat monthly fee to support your franchised business. We encourage you to speak with us and see if we are a good fit. We offer free no-hassle consultations by video or by phone.
If you still have questions, but aren’t ready to speak to an attorney, consider reading our blog post on the basic legal requirements to franchise a business.
Franchisee Tailored Legal Support
Purchasing a franchised business requires a substantial commitment of time, energy, and capital. You can never eliminate risk in business, but working with a franchise attorney can significantly help when it comes to choosing the right franchise opportunity and understanding and mitigating risk. Evaluating a franchise opportunity demands careful consideration, diligence, and expertise.
A skilled franchise attorney plays a pivotal role in this evaluation process by meticulously reviewing disclosure documents and contracts, and offering proactive legal support. While any skilled business attorney can review a contract, only attorneys with specialized knowledge in franchising can fully appreciate the legal intricacies of franchise law and the practical aspects of the franchise business model.
Our franchisee attorneys possess the acumen to identify potential red flags, assess the fairness of business and legal terms, and ensure compliance with relevant federal and state laws. Beyond the legalities, a top franchisee attorney can offer valuable insights into industry standards, helping potential franchisees gauge the viability and competitiveness of the opportunity they are evaluating.
Engaging knowledgeable franchise legal counsel helps entrepreneurs make informed decisions, mitigate risks, and maximize their potential to succeed in franchising.
FDD Attorney Review
We excel at helping entrepreneurs evaluate franchise opportunities, and we serve as an FDD attorney at the early stages and walk entrepreneurs through the process of exploring a franchise opportunity.
- Comprehensive FDD review by a franchise attorney.
- Comprensive review and analysis of the franchise agreement and other contracts.
- Development of a written report documenting the FDD review.
- Consultation and legal advice on rights and obligations.
- Consultation and negotiation on business legal terms.
- Business formation.
- Lease negotiation.
- Day-to-day legal support.
- Transactional and M&A support.
- Dispute resolution.
Franchisee legal support Post FDD Review Often includes:
Franchisee Attorney fee structure
As we mentioned above, lawyers traditionally bill on a per hour basis. However, our franchise law firm strives to help entrepreneurs budget by providing a firm fixed cost whenever possible. Our law firm is able to do this because we want to build long term relationships by providing value and we have the experience to know approximately how long it will take to complete each task. For example, our FDD attorneys provide a comprehensive FDD review and unlimited consultation for a competitive flat fee ($1,850).
Likewise, we often help new franchisees by creating their business entity and drafting formation documents in compliance with any franchisor requirements for a reasonable fixed fee. However, certain items are unpredictable – like negotiating commercial lease terms or assisting with employee relations. If we cannot provide a firm fixed cost than we will do our best to provide a time estimate. Obtaining solid legal support is the cost of doing business, but we do our best to make our engagement affordable and transparent.
We are a Virginia franchise focused law firm, but our knowledge and practice in franchising allows us to serve business clients across the globe.
From Launch to Maturity
We are more than just a franchise law firm. We have the knowledge and experience to provide ongoing legal support. From transactional support to dispute resolution, we want to be a part of your journey. Many firms can support one aspect of your business or help you evaluate a franchise, but our attorney’s unique skill sets allow them to foster long term mutually beneficial relationships with business clients. Our Virginia law firm can provide transactional support across the globe. From launch to maturity, lets go!
Protect IP
We can help franchisors protect their brand by providing legal support throughout the trademark process.
FDD
We can help franchisors by drafting the FDD and we can help franchisees by reviewing and explaining the FDD. We draft contracts and negotiate key legal terms for both franchisors and franchsiees.
Compliance
We can help businesses develop best practices and navigate any legal challenges with employees, customers, or implicit in franchising.
Maturity
We provide ongoing legal support as business leads manage the challenges of growing operations. In good times and bad, we serve as a trusted legal advisor. We are the law department for your business.
Think you might be interested in retaining a world-class franchise law firm?
Click here to learn more about our franchise lawyers or learn more about attorney Derek Colvin’s path as a franchise lawyer in his “Top Lawyers” interview with Authority Magazine. Please also feel free to explore our site to learn more about our diverse practice areas (Business and Commercial Law) or learn about franchise law (federal franchise law or state franchise laws). about Waldrop and Colvin as a franchise law firm. We are result oriented and laser focused on serving entrepreneurs by providing business legal solutions. We are Virginia based, but we provide nationwide support.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Franchising occurs anytime the following three elements are present:
- Right to Operate. The buyer will obtain the right to operate a business that is identified or associated with the seller’s trademark, or to offer, sell, or distribute goods, services, or commodities that are identified or associated with the franchisor’s trademark; and
- Degree of Control. The seller will exert or has authority to exert a significant degree of control over the buyer’s method of operation, or provide significant assistance in the buyer’s method of operation; and
- Exchange of Money. As a condition of obtaining or commencing operation of the business, the buyer makes a required payment or commits to make a required payment to the seller or its affiliate. In Virginia, this includes any direct or indirect payment of at least $500.
If these three elements are present, its a franchise! This is true regardless of what the parties call the arrangement and regardless of rather the agreement is written or oral.
The Franchisor is the party offering franchise opportunities. Essentially, the Franchisor charges a fee for “Franchisees” to operate a business under the Franchisor’s trademark and they exercise a significant degree of control or oversight over the way the Franchisee operates the business.
Franchises can only be offered and sold in the United States through disclosure of a Franchise Disclosure Document. The first step is to partner with a franchise attorney to develop this disclosure document. Not all businesses are suitable for franchising. To successfully franchise your business, you must have a validated business model, systems, and processes in place, and the business itself must be scalable. Ease of replication is key. Consider reading this post on the basic legal requirements to franchise your business.
To launch your franchise, you should expect to spend between $20,000 and $100,000.
Franchising a business the right way requires substantial investment of time, energy, and capital. Operating a business and operating a franchise are two entirely different creatures.
The total cost will depend on your level of knowledge, your existing materials, the level of support you need, and the trading partners you select. The key is to work with trusted people with the right industry knowledge and experience because you will need to understand the business and legal aspects of franchising, develop materials, establish infrastructure, retain the right staff, and more to succeed in franchising.
A Franchisee is an entity or individual who (i) exchanges funds for (ii) the right to operate a business under the seller’s (the”Franchisor”) trademark and (iii) is subject to a significant degree of control or oversight from the Franchisor.
Franchise opportunities can only be purchased directly from a franchisor. To buy a franchise, you must first be disclosed a copy of the franchisor’s franchise disclosure document (the “FDD”). The FDD will disclose information about the franchisor, its leaders, and the cost to purchase and operate a franchised business. You should carefully review the FDD with a franchise attorney. The FDD will contain a copy of the contracts you will be required to sign. To complete the purchase, you will pay any initial franchise fees and sign the franchise agreement.
The price of buying a franchise will vary widely; however, the good news is that pricing is transparent in the franchise process. Of course, you can ask for discounts, but all franchisors are required to publish their initial fees and ongoing fees, as well as offering an estimate of the required initial investment in their franchise disclosure document. You can search for a Free FDD for almost any franchisor using our guide.
Most franchise attorneys charge a flat or fixed rate for FDD review. However, the level of service provided will vary by franchise law firm. At Waldrop and Colvin, we charge a flat rate of $1,850 to review any FDD and this flat rate includes a detailed report, proposed legal changes, and includes unlimited consultation to discuss the franchise opportunity throughout the process.
Yes, we charge a flat rate of $1,850 to review any FDD, prepare a report, propose legal changes, and consult with you. This flat fee includes unlimited consultation and assistance as you explore the opportunity. Additional services beyond FDD review may be offered at a flat rate or hourly rate.
Its smart to hire a franchise attorney regardless of whether you are buying a franchise or franchising your business.
Franchise law is a niche and complex area of the law. Franchisors must adhere to laws that govern businesses generally and franchises specifically.
At the federal level, this primarily consists of the federal franchise rule and the requirement to offer and sale franchise by disclosing the FDD. The federal rule establishes specific disclosure obligations, with guidance provided by agencies like the FTC and NASAA.
At the state level, laws can vary widely across the spectrum. Knowledge of these laws is indispensable because of the nature of franchising, and compliance is highly case specific.
The time and knowledge required to serve clients as a franchise attorney is substantial and just isn’t well suited for a general practitioner.
