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The franchise agreement is the document between you and your franchisee. It will set out the legal obligations of both parties.
Like most legal documents, it is possible to download a template off the internet for a relatively modest sum. However, unless you are an experienced franchise lawyer, you will probably not know how to ensure that the template that you are using provides you with the legal protection that it ought to. Therefore, should you end up in dispute with a franchisee, there is a risk that you will not be protected legally.
Not all lawyers are experienced in franchising. Therefore, therefore whilst your lawyer may have access to a good precedent, without the commercial knowledge of the franchising industry, they may not be able to sufficiently tailor the agreement to your requirements.
Once the agreement has been drafted, you will not need to involve your lawyer each time it is signed. However, it is important to ensure that each time you enter into a franchise agreement (i) it is correctly completed and (ii) properly executed (signed) by the parties.
Many franchisors find themselves unable to properly rely on their franchise agreements because they have not been properly executed. Your lawyer may well offer you an execution checking service, to make sure that on each occasion the agreement is used it is correctly completed and signed by the parties.
Whilst changes to the laws in relation to franchising are relatively rare, it is nevertheless worth having your franchise agreement checked by an experienced franchise lawyer from time to time.
Even though there are not generally many changes to the law relating to franchising, there will be situations that you have come across in practice that may require you to add to or amend certain provisions in your franchise agreement.
A franchise development agreement (often referred to as a master development agreement) is primarily designed for the appointment by a master franchise holder of a licensee that is entrusted with the development of a territory by operating franchise outlets itself, without any right to sub-franchise outside its own group.
A master licence agreement (or master franchise agreement), is primarily designed for the appointment of a master franchise holder (sometimes referred to as a master franchisee or master licensee) who is granted an exclusive right to operate the franchise itself via a subsidiary, and to grant (or sub-franchise) franchises to third parties within a territory.
If you need any advice on franchise agreements, please contact a member of our team in confidence here or on 02920 829 100 for a free initial call to see how they can help.
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