3 Key Takeaways | Is Franchising Doomed? The 2024 Version
AGG Talks: Cross-Border Business - Navigating Inbound Franchising in the U.S.
One Month to More Effective Compliance on Business Ventures - Day 19 - Franchisor Compliance
This Am Law 200 partner is using Twitter to build his practice and authority - Legally Contented podcast
5 Key Takeaways | Franchising in the USA: Challenges for Latin American Brands
Is Franchising Doomed?
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II-27 - Our 1st Anniversary Special: Bringing Back Our Inaugural Guest to Discuss What Was and What Will Still Be With President Trump
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Before committing to a franchise business, consider...
A federal court recently granted in part and denied in part a franchisor’s motion to enjoin the post-termination activities of its former franchisees and two related entities. Rooterman, LLC is a plumbing services franchisor....more
On May 1, 2025, the Wage and Hour Division (“WHD”) of the U.S. Department of Labor (“DOL”) issued a Field Assistance Bulletin stepping back from a restrictive independent contractor rule issued under the Biden...more
There were a number of important and potentially impactful developments in 2024 that we predict will continuing developing and trending in 2025. Some of these topics are also discussed in other articles in this annual update....more
While the original guidelines focused primarily on per se illegal wage-fixing and no-poach agreements, the 2025 Guidelines illustrate a significant expansion in enforcement, broadening scrutiny to compensation benchmarking,...more
Less than a week before the inauguration of President Donald Trump, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Antitrust Division jointly published guidelines on assessing whether business...more
During their last week in office, and over the vigorous dissent of Republican FTC commissioners, Biden administration antitrust officials unveil new guidelines intended to replace the 2016 Antitrust Guidance for Human...more
A federal district court recently granted the United States’ Motion for Default Judgment against the quick-service burger restaurant franchise concept, Burgerim Group USA, Inc. and its owner (“Burgerim”). The Federal Trade...more
In Deslandes v. McDonald’s USA LLC, issued August 25, 2023, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit overturned the dismissal of antitrust claims that challenged no-poach clauses in franchise agreements....more
On January 5, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced a proposed new rule that would effectively prohibit employers from requiring employees to agree to noncompete clauses. The public is invited to submit comments...more
Arrington v. Burger King Worldwide, Inc., No. 20-13561 (11th Cir. Aug. 31, 2022) – In October 2018, a former line cook of a Burger King franchise restaurant in Illinois, filed a class action complaint in the District Court...more
A federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois has held that an antitrust challenge to a “hiring restriction [that] prevented” plaintiff employees “from taking a better-paying position with a...more
The FTC filed suit against California fast food franchisor Burgerim in early February. The case is the FTC’s first major enforcement action against a franchisor in about a decade....more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The third key trend from our 16th Annual Workplace Class Action Litigation Report involves governmental enforcement litigation, including an overview of priorities and filings by the EEOC, the U.S....more
In early February 2019, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced its intent to file statements of interest in multiple ongoing private lawsuits to clarify how “no-poach” agreements should be evaluated under the federal...more
Evolving antitrust treatment of so-called “no-poach” agreements continues to offer important guidance for company counsel and human resources professionals. Over the past two years, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has...more
Jimmy John’s will face antitrust claims, after an Illinois federal judge declined to dismiss allegations in a class action. Plaintiffs claim the chain’s franchise agreement harmed competition by preventing franchisee...more
Franchise agreements commonly prohibit the franchisee from soliciting or hiring workers employed by the franchisor or other franchisees. This may take the form of “no-hire” or “no-switching” clauses that prohibit hiring each...more
Facebook’s disappointing Q2 earnings (and, presumably, some pent-up scandal-fueled anti-‘Book sentiment) sent its stock into freefall yesterday, erasing more than $120 billion from the company’s market value as shares dove...more
European antitrust authorities have delivered a stinging rebuke to Google in the form of a $5.1 billion penalty over its Android operating system practices. The sum displaces last year’s $2.7 billion fine, also against...more
The Attorneys General of ten states are investigating fast food franchisors for their alleged use of “no poach” provisions in their franchise agreements, according to a press release by the New Jersey Attorney General’s...more
Agreements among companies to not hire each other’s workers are more risky than ever. The DOJ’s Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division, Makan Delrahim, stated on January 19 that the division has criminal cases...more
JANITORIAL FRANCHISE COMPANY SETTLES ITS APPEAL OF $4.8 MILLION JUDGMENT IN FAVOR OF MISCLASSIFIED CUSTODIANS. Coverall North America Inc. settled the independent contractor misclassification case filed against it by a class...more
Franchisors are facing a precarious three-way intersection of increased accountability and regulation over consumer privacy, the growing volume and sophistication of cyber-attacks on consumer data, and the expanding...more