Restaurant and Food Services
Today's food service and restaurant industry is a highly specialized universe with unique legal needs. To survive in today'seconomic climate, savvy restauranteurs and business operators seek counsel from experienced lawyers before issues arise. The attorneys of Fennemore Craig's Restaurant & Food Services Practice bring a breadth and depth of experience in assisting such restauranteurs. restaurant investors and restaurant landlords, as well as food services manufacturers and suppliers. We are well-versed with restaurant operational issues from back-of-the-house through the front-of-the-house and industry-specific legal matters that these operational issues regularly present. Our attorneys counsel our clients in the areas of restaurant entity management training, and related legal issues specific to the restaurant industry. We also manage food and beverage licensing and distribution agreements, franchise agreements and supplier contracts. We assist restauranteurs with the purchase and sale of existing restaurants, lease negotiations, and risk management. We also assist with a variety of employment issues ranging from management training to employment disputes.Fennemore Craig’s Restaurant & Food Service attorneys counsel our clients with the following matters:
- Business organization, including forming, maintaining and dissolving corporations, limited liability companies and other business entities
- Investor relations and management, including negotiating and documenting restaurant investor agreements and distribution agreements
- Negotiating, documenting and enforcing restaurant and food licensing agreements and food service franchise agreements, including preparation of operations manuals, policies and procedures
- For restaurant systems involving multiple units, multiple ownership entities and a single trademark, advice and assistance complying with federal and applicable state franchise and business opportunity laws, including advice as to business structures to avoid legal compliance obligations
- Purchase and sales of existing restaurant and bar operations, including liquor license transfers
- Negotiating, documenting and enforcing restaurant leases and restaurant pad purchase and sale agreements, including sales and lease-backs to restaurant operators
- Negotiating, documenting and enforcing restaurant fixture, furnishings and equipment leases, sales and financing packages
- Negotiating and documenting restaurant construction financing, including securitization issues
- Preparing liquor license and restaurant license applications, and defending alleged license violations
- Negotiating, documenting and enforcing distribution and supply-chain contracts and restaurant operation service contracts
- Intellectual property infringement disputes and litigation, including cease and desist letters, trade secret protection, and trademark and trade dress infringement litigation
- Intellectual property management, including trade name and trademark registration, maintenance and licensing, as well as copyrighting
- Employment training for industry-specific employment law matters, including management training, sexual harassment and diversity seminars
- Employee handbook, employee contract, employee policy and procedures preparation and review
- Immigration matters, including immigration law compliance counseling
- Employee dispute representation, including non-competition agreement enforcement, sexual harassment and discrimination claim defense, and administrative proceedings
- Potential premises liability and Dram Shop liability issues
- Civil litigation representation arising from restaurant operations, including contractual and customer disputes
- Sanitation and environmental law education and compliance management
- Information management, document retention and disposal counseling
For more information on how Fennemore Craig’s Restaurant & Food Services attorneys may assist you, please contact the Practice Chair, Joe Chandler, at 602-916-5403.
