Franchise Agreement and Disclosure Document – Advice

This article provides a very good overview of important provisions and potential traps in franchise legal documents.  (article is from a Canadian newspaper)

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Article by Ryan Knoll

Ryan is an attorney and valuation specialist residing in Chicago. He chronicles his thoughts and research on FranchisePundit.com. You may reach him by email ryanknoll@gmail.com or mobile telephone 312-715-8115. Read 448 articles by
5 Comments Post a Comment
  1. Jason Scott says:

    What I don’t understand is why would one waste their time drafting their own legal documents when they have no expertise in law and have to go through all of the hoops?
    Using a franchise consulting firm would be a much smarter idea.
    Hands down the best Franchise Consulting Firm out there is Francorp. 30 years experience and a myriad of succesful clients. I believe their website is http://www.francorp.com

  2. Speechless says:

    On the off chance that someone will actually believe “Jason Scott” it should be pointed out that FranCorp is highly controversial and probably not the best idea for a beginning franchisor to use them right now. It is a red flag to the regulators and may cause problems if you have unhappy franchisees down the road. If you don’t believe me, look at Robert Zarco’s lawsuit against a zor that used FranCorp–Zarco is going more after FranCorp than after the zor!

    If you do use them, be careful about giving them money before the services are provided. They are probably going to go bankrupt and Don still has his tax liens so he is unlikely to keep any money in either his name or in FranCorp’s name.

    The expert on FranCorp is Janet Sparks who has written articles for years in both Franchise Times magazine and on the BlueMauMau.org website.

    The most recent article:
    http://www.bluemaumau.org/6155/francorp_announces_layoffs_after_missing_payroll_friday

  3. Frank Thompson says:

    Ha! Janet Sparks is an expert of nothing. I would completely agree with Jason Scott. There is no question that Francorp is the industry leader in this segment. That ridiculous blog that is put together by Ms. Sparks is fully loaded by the competition. Janet Sparks is heavily influenced by certain people making her stories completely unbeleivable. Anyone who takes a word of truth from that blog is not thinking straight.

    Francorp has been an industry leader for over 32 years, I think they will continue to be here for a little while longer! If you would like to see a “pro Francorp” blog visit http://www.francorp1.com for the “other side”.

  4. Sparks' objectivity says:

    Sparks gets tips from all over. And the tipsters often have an agenda. That does not make them wrong.

    Francorp has been the subject of much press and the topic of that has been both the quality of Francorp work and the financial stability of the company. In addition there are concerns about the depth of talent, which is a valid concern given the age of the founder.

    As to “Jason Scott” statements about legal expertise, that is one of the matters at issue in the lawsuit filed by Robert Zarco.

    This is not to say that a prospective franchisor should not consider Francorp.

    But it is to suggest that Francorp has some baggage which may be a factor in deciding on whether to retain their services or not, and in deciding on whether to pay them in advance of services being rendered, and in budgeting for an independent law firm to review and revise as necessary any documents written by Francorp unless Francorp has those documents drafted by an admitted attorney in good standing.

  5. Anonymous says:

    The Naked Truth Online – What real franchisees are saying about your franchise. News and Forums for franchisees within all major franchise systems.

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