On behalf of Garner, Ginsburg & Johnsen, P.A. on Wednesday, July 23, 2014. A California federal court has handed a significant victory to our franchisee client, Frango Grille USA, Inc., in denying a franchisor’s motion to dismiss and allowing the franchisee’s lawsuit to proceed. The franchise agreement contained a “choice of forum” provision that required Read more…

July 14, 2023 Yes – at least to a degree. But not as much as cities seem to think. A local unit of government, however, may not prohibit possession, transportation, or use of cannabis flower or products. Fortunately, Minn. Stat. 342.13(b) prohibits a local unit of government from prohibiting the establishment of a licensed cannabis Read more…

August 19, 2021 When you go into business for yourself, you know that you are ultimately responsible for its success or failure. There may be market factors that take a toll, and there may be forces of nature that you may not be able to overcome, but you know that how you weather the downs Read more…

July 1, 2016 On behalf of Garner, Ginsburg & Johnsen, P.A. on Friday, July 1, 2016. Many of you franchisees ask us if franchisors can treat franchisees differently. The question comes in various forms: My franchisor isn’t collecting royalties from some other franchisees. So why do I have to pay? A number of franchisees in Read more…

March 16, 2023 Franchisees frequently tell us that they are unhappy with their franchisors. This can be for any number of reasons — inadequate training, poor marketing, lack of lead generation, ineffective website, etc. Often, it boils down to the following statement: “I am making franchise royalty payments, but I’m not getting anything in return.”  Read more…

August 12, 2021 Whether or not you, as a franchisee, can assert claims in a lawsuit against your franchisor is a loaded question. On one hand, the answer is yes; you can sue anyone for anything at any time — it doesn’t mean you’ll win or that the case will go anywhere, but you can. Read more…

February 21, 2017 Franchisees that contact us frequently ask if they can close the franchise and continue operating an independent business in the same industry.  The short answer in the majority of cases is, unfortunately, “no.”  But with good advice from a franchise lawyer, a franchisee may be able to avoid the non-competition agreement. Many Read more…

On behalf of Garner, Ginsburg & Johnsen, P.A. on Thursday, October 4, 2012. When business partners in the restaurant industry part ways—sometimes as co-owners of a restaurant, sometimes as franchisor and franchisee—the issue frequently arises whether recipes used in the business belong to one of the parties and whether that party can prohibit the other, Read more…

January 13, 2017 A number of alcoholic beverage industry members have taken a strong stance against the legalization of marijuana.  A beer distributor political action committee (PAC), for example, gave $25,000 to a group in Massachusetts that was opposing the ballot measure to legalize marijuana.  Some larger breweries, including Boston Beer Company (producer of Sam Read more…

Let’s take a look at some advertising language that franchisors use to entice potential franchise buyers. These types of misleading franchise advertising claims are often what draw people in—but not all are legally actionable. After all, these advertisements are often the sole reason a prospective franchisee reaches out to a franchisor in the first place. Read more…

July 21, 2014 Freewheeler is a dry, crisp cider; not too sweet, right amount of tart. Sociable Cider Werks’ Freewheeler is a dry, crisp cider; not too sweet, right amount of tart. Perfect summer cider. After you try Freewheeler, take it up a notch with Sociable’s cucumber habanero Freewheeler. Cucumber up front with heat at Read more…

September 11, 2020 In Minnesota, we got a nice ruling from the federal courts – farm wineries in Minnesota do not need to use 51% Minnesota ingredients.  Farm wineries have always had an out from this obligation and could petition the state to get around it by essentially stating that they cannot meet the requirement Read more…