Franchise Litigation and Counseling

Todd & Weld’s franchise litigation and counseling practice is well-established, both on the franchisor and franchisee sides. We regularly counsel clients on a variety of franchise matters in diverse industries, including automotive distribution, quick service restaurants, and real estate brokerage. We have successfully litigated through trial and appeal highly complex and significant franchise cases in state and federal courts and before administrative agencies. Our practice includes: counseling distributors and franchisors on establishing, maintaining, relocating, and terminating dealers, distributors and franchisees; litigation and counseling with respect to federal and state antitrust, RICO, trade regulation and franchise laws; and defending franchisee and competitor claims. We have also represented several large franchisee networks in litigation and franchise-related matters.

We have an established national reputation for excellence in representing clients concerning matters arising under both federal and state automotive dealer franchise laws. We successfully have prosecuted and defended automotive dealer franchise cases in state and federal courts and before agencies throughout New England. Relying on our substantial expertise and experience, Todd & Weld was deeply involved in drafting a complete revision of the Massachusetts Automotive Dealer Franchise Act.

Some of our representative cases

• Successfully defended the New England distributor for Subaru products in a region-wide dealer class action challenging its distribution system and seeking hundreds of millions in damages.
• Enforced a real estate brokerage company's trademark rights in its franchised name.
• Counseled a distributor during negotiations and revisions of its distribution contracts with the manufacturer and, in turn, its dealers.
• Obtained and defended on appeal judgment permitting automobile dealer to relocate its dealership into the relevant market area of another dealer.
• Represented a 40-plus store Dunkin' Donuts franchisee in various litigation matters.
• Represented RE/MAX of New England in a variety of franchise matters.