The Dealer/Distributor and Franchising Practice Group offers specialized services to dealers and distributors, manufacturers, marketing and sales representatives, and franchisors and franchisees. Our attorneys assist clients with a number of issues, from contracts and dispute resolution to managing dealers and franchisees and complying with state, federal, and international laws. The group serves clients in the United States and throughout the world.
The Dealer/Distributor and Franchising Practice Group provides services such as drafting agreements for dealers, distributors, and marketing and sales representatives, including form and specialized agreements for dealers and distributors in the following industries, among others: marine, electronics, waste management technology, financial products, pharmaceutical equipment, farm equipment, and cleaning products manufacturing. We also work with franchisors and franchisees to review and draft franchise and development agreements and franchise offering circulars, counsel on compliance issues, resolve disputes, and handle franchise sales and transfers. Additional services include handling antitrust concerns, in conjunction with the Business and Litigation Practice Groups, and representing our clients before the agencies responsible for consumer protection.
Our attorneys work with clients to get to know them and the businesses they operate. Building relationships allows our attorneys to resolve concerns and disputes and to customize our services to meet clients' needs. Several of our attorneys have personal experience as franchisors and franchisees with well-known companies and so are aware of the issues our clients face. Our attorneys have additional resources at their fingertips: within the firm are attorneys licensed in 11 other states who can provide counsel and contacts concerning laws in those states. Our attorneys also draw on the skills of attorneys in other groups of the firm, including Business, International, and Litigation.
Attorneys in the Dealer/Distributor and Franchising Practice Group bring to their work a range of complementary experience including the following: legal advisor to a number of major companies in North Carolina; legal counsel for private businesses including PepsiCo and Nutri/Systems; chief executive officer of a privately held company and a large franchising company; presidential appointment to serve as the Secretary of Defense's representative to the Organization on Security and Cooperation in Europe; senior policy advisor and chief of staff to the late U.S. Senator Terry Sanford; law school instructor; member of commissions and boards of the state government, the University of North Carolina, and private business and nonprofit enterprises; board member of economic and university committees and officer of a private foundation; member and officer of the state chapter and Coastal Plains Chapter of the North Carolina World Trade Association; and lecturer.
