Franchise agreements are the cornerstone of any successful franchise venture, but they're often laden with intricate clauses and potential pitfalls. When disputes arise, your franchise agreement will also govern how the dispute can be resolved. That's where we come in.

The Texas franchise attorneys at Hendershot Cowart P.C. can review your franchise agreement and FDD to ensure that your rights and interests are preserved and protected. If necessary, we can suggest and negotiate revisions that clearly define the franchisor’s duties and obligations to you.

There is little in a typical FDD that holds the franchisor accountable to the franchisee. But every agreement can be negotiated and revised prior to signing.

Our experienced franchise lawyers can review the FDD and related agreements with an eye on protecting your rights and to ensure that the franchisor’s responsibilities to you are fully and clearly expressed.

Common provisions that may need to be negotiated or clarified prior to signing include:

Ambiguous language about the franchisor’s obligations to support the franchisee

Territory rights, which can help protect your business from competition within the franchise

First right of refusal on the option to establish another location in an adjoining territory

Dispute resolution and forum selection clauses. If there is a dispute, the franchisor will often select an arbitration forum in the city of its headquarters, requiring the franchisee to incur travel expenses to dispute the matter. Instead, negotiate a forum convenient to you.

In addition to establishing the legal obligations for both the franchisor and franchisee, the franchise agreement should clearly outline your renewal rights, rights respecting transfer or sale, and termination rights.

If any of these rights are ambiguous or missing, our attorneys can help you clarify or negotiate these provisions.

Our firm helps enforce, defend, and mediate or arbitrate a range of franchise disputes using legal strategies tailored to the situation, needs, and available options of our clients.

We have extensive experience helping clients dispute, resolve, or defend against franchise matters involving:

Breach of franchise agreements

IP ownership disputes

Breach of fiduciary duty

Non-compete violations

Copyright, trademark, and patent infringement

Enforcing nondisclosure agreements

Fraud and misrepresentation

Theft of trade secrets

Our franchise dispute lawyers can review your franchise disclosure document and franchise agreement to determine whether there has been a breach and review the dispute resolution provision.

Most franchise disputes are resolved through arbitration. We can help you navigate the arbitration process and negotiate a favorable settlement.

Proactively establishing safeguards is critical to protecting your rights and interests, and having grounds for legal remedies when things don’t go as planned.

Our franchise attorneys advise clients on a range of proactive measures relating to:

Reviewing, and negotiating franchise contracts (royalties, fees, reporting, audit, default, etc.)

Independent contractor / work-for-hire agreements

Transactions

Franchise disclosure documents (FDD) reviews

Transfer restrictions / conditions

Business formation, franchise sales and purchase

Regulatory compliance with federal and state laws

Partnership / employment agreements

Indemnification

Confidentiality, nondisclosure and non-compete agreements

Intellectual property and trade secret protection

And let you get back to business.

We take a vested interest in our clients' success – from start to finish.

As a boutique law firm, we unite real experience with personal attention.

We handle matters from the Red River to the Rio Grande and beyond.

Let us put the full force of our 100+ years of combined experience to work for you.

At Hendershot Cowart P.C., you can rely on us for guidance, perspective, and resolution in and out of the courtroom. Our law firm, founded in 1987, has a reputation for providing only the highest-quality legal representation possible. We understand the stakes in each matter we handle, and we are well-known for our ability to handle extremely challenging legal situations.

“I cannot say enough good things about my Lawyer, Mr. David Augustus. His calm, laser-like knowledge of business law allowed me to prevail and teach a few others during the short negotiations. Having the full backing of his law firm also helped greatly.”

– L. A.

“Excellent experience working with Ray to settle our partnership disillusion. He was consistently available and steadfast in his guidance. Highly recommend this firm.”

– S. H.

"Been Working with these folks for around two years now. I have multiple people on the team who constantly have my back. I've had to ask for immediate help multiple times. They've always come through for me."

– J. D.