Franchising

Our dedicated team of specialist franchising lawyers have experience of acting in a variety of franchise sectors including courier services, professional and property services, cleaning, education and many others. We are an accredited member of the British Franchise Association (BFA) and we regularly attend BFA events in order to keep abreast of issues affecting the franchising industry.

We act for both companies and individuals and we have a wide range of franchisor clients. The litigation franchising team works closely with our commercial franchising team, and together the Pannone franchising team is the largest in the North-West.

The team advises franchisors on all aspects of the protection of their franchise network, including the pursuit and the defence of complex claims involving franchisees. We also occasionally act on behalf of franchisees, usually in class action type claims, who are in dispute with their franchisor or who are seeking an early exit from a franchise network.

We regularly advise franchisors on effective franchise management processes, dealing with poorly performing or disgruntled franchisees in order to avoid litigation. We have a proven track record of successfully breaking up and resolving threatened litigation against franchisors. We are able to act extremely quickly to secure effective relief from the courts in dealing with systematic difficulties with problematic franchisees or franchisees setting up in competition in breach of restrictive covenants.

The team's aim is to understand your business and ensure that it is protected and to that end we provide you with cost effective commercial solutions to suit your business needs. Before embarking upon litigation we will provide you with a bespoke costs budget so you can understand the cost/benefit analysis at the outset.

Our experience

• Advising franchisors on the strategy used to terminate franchise agreements, including drafting default notices, breach letters and protocol letters.
• Obtaining emergency injunctive relief from the courts when a franchisor's know how or other intellectual property is threatened.
• Acting on behalf of franchisors in defending class action claims by franchisees though the courts or through arbitration and managing the exit of franchisees from a network.
• Dealing with all aspects of negotiation and dispute resolution, including the BFA mediation scheme, in order to offer pragmatic and commercial solutions.

Members of the team are listed as experts in Chambers Guide to the Legal Profession 2009 and in The Legal 500 2008 edition. Paul Jonson, partner, is described as "dedicated" and "thorough, persistent, knowledgeable and focused".

We draw upon expertise from our multi-disciplinary practice, which means that we can provide you with seamless advice on all aspects of your franchise including intellectual property, corporate, employment, property and competition law.

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Click here to download the franchising team sheet.

Click here to download our guide to franchising.

To speak with a member of our franchising team please call 0844 980 1440 or send an email.