Our experienced franchising lawyers have a 360-degree view of the global franchising industry. We have decades of experience advising franchisors and master franchisees across a variety of industries. By leveraging our global platform, our legal team delivers a full range of services to companies doing business around the world.
Our representation of franchisors ranges from emerging systems to some of the largest franchisors in the world. We understand the issues and challenges that each of these franchise systems face. Clients recognize that we understand their business, have in-depth knowledge, and maintain an ability to provide counsel in major markets around the world where our clients conduct business.
Our legal service platform caters to every aspect of franchised businesses. We possess significant experience in all legal disciplines in which our franchise clients operate, including litigation and arbitration, compliance, corporate governance, and information security and data privacy. Our lawyers also provide counsel on commercial contracts, restructuring and insolvency, employment law, government relations, mergers and acquisitions, and public company operations. We have substantial experience with franchise disclosure documents, franchise agreements, franchise registration laws, franchise relationship laws, and global distribution platforms, including a franchising team that has been established in Australia for the past three decades.
Members of our Franchising team are frequent authors and speakers at top hospitality and franchise industry events hosted by the International Franchise Association, American Bar Association Forum on Franchising, and the American Hotel and Lodging Association, as well as numerous bar association, corporate counsel, and trade organization groups.
We have substantial experience handling a broad spectrum of matters related to franchising, including:
Commercial, cross-border, and international transactions
Cybersecurity, data protection, and data privacy
Intellectual property
Corporate matters
Mergers and acquisition
Commercial litigation
Real estate
Insurance recovery and counseling
Restructuring and insolvency
Employment law
Financial services
Government relations
Advertising, marketing, sweepstakes, and promotions
The Washington state legislature has adjourned for 2026, and key tax changes are in store if Governor Bob Ferguson signs several tax-related bills into law, and if those tax changes then survive expected legal challenges.
The year 2025 saw significant regulatory activity in the realm of digital assets. The US Congress and financial regulators took steps to create and implement a clear legal framework to facilitate financial transactions using digital assets, and they will continue to do so in 2026.
Starting on 30 June 2024, with the application of the first of two introduction phases of the Regulation on Markets in Crypto-assets across all member states of the European Union, the EU has introduced for the first time a harmonized regulatory framework as well as accompanying passporting rights for service providers of the crypto-asset market, affecting both traditional institutions of the financial sector and new players emerging in the crypto-ecosystem.
We welcome your email, but please understand that if you are not already a client of K&L Gates LLP, we cannot represent you until we confirm that doing so would not create a conflict of interest and is otherwise consistent with the policies of our firm. Accordingly, please do not include any confidential information until we verify that the firm is in a position to represent you and our engagement is confirmed in a letter. Prior to that time, there is no assurance that information you send us will be maintained as confidential. Thank you for your consideration.
