The Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) movement is presenting companies challenging — but important — issues that must be considered.
Regulators, investors, consumers and employees are increasingly focused on what companies are doing, or not doing, when it comes to sustainability, climate impact, human and labor rights, diversity and inclusion, and transparent governance. Missteps can
You never, ever mention your competitors in your marketing and advertising. Unless maybe you attack them. That’s Marketing 101, right?
Well, the conventional wisdom appears to be wrong.
Recent research from Professor Keisha Cutright at Duke’s Fuqua School of Business suggests just the opposite. That brands praising their competitors may actually help boost their own
On September 28, 2021, Fox Rothschild partner Craig Tractenberg with Rochelle Spandorf from Davis Wright Tremaine LLP provided perspectives on drafting licenses and distribution agreements respecting the evergreen issue of creating an accidental franchise in a Strafford Publications webinar. They also discussed best practices for complying with federal and state franchise and business opportunity laws
Recently, I moderated a panel for an International Franchise Association webinar called “From Venture Capital to Private Equity: Franchise Investment Trends and Terms”. I was fortunate to have fantastic panelists: Satya Ponnuru (General Partner of NewSpring Franchise), Vanessa Yakobson (CEO of Blo Blow Dry Bar), Bernard Markey (Navigator Partners) and Ed Teixeira (Franchise Grade). I
While the Protect the Right to Organize (PRO) Act was passed by the House of Representatives, it has not been made part of the Biden administration’s infrastructure efforts thus far and does not appear have sufficient support to overcome a certain filibuster in the Senate. Therefore, passage of the Act in its present form is
The California version of the ABC test is arguably the most hostile to franchising. Nonetheless, the risk is not confined to California.
This is because the ABC employee classification test, with variations, has been adopted in a majority of states including, in addition to California: Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana,
The second troublesome threat is the joint employment standard. The Obama Adminstration DOL caused angst in the franchise industry in January 2016, when it adopted a joint employment standard that focused on “whether the employee is dependent on the potential joint employer who, via an arrangement with the intermediary employer, is benefitting from the work.”
The PRO Act would do serious, and perhaps mortal, damage to the franchise industry. It would make sweeping changes to the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), the Labor Management Relations Act (LMRA), and the Labor Management and Disclosure Act (LMDA). Most pertinent to franchising, the PRO Act would adopt the California ABC standard for determining
Omens of the Apocalypse for the franchise industry are everywhere:
Starting on July 1, 2021. the NCAA permitted student-athletes throughout the country to profit from their name, image, and likeness (“NIL”). This decision marks a major shift from the NCAA’s longstanding amateurism model. Twenty-eight states have also enacted their own NIL laws, and sixteen of those—including Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, New Mexico, Texas, Kentucky, Ohio,