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Fixed-Fee Legal Services Programs
Goldstein Law Group
www.goldlawgroup.com
(As of Spring 2010)
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Goldstein Law Group's long participation
as an active player in the commercial litigation arena throughout the country
enables it to effectively identify, address and resolve business disputes both in
and out of the courtroom. Goldstein Law
Group has built on its extensive litigation experience to also become one of
the premier national law firms providing counseling and franchise negotiations
to franchisees and dealers.
In an effort to assist franchisees,
dealers and other small and medium-sized businesses to avoid time-consuming and
costly litigation, Goldstein Law Group has formulated the following legal services
programs, each of which is intended to provide its clients with timely,
efficient and effective legal support. These fixed-fee programs also allow
clients to budget accurately only for the legal services they decide to
purchase.
These fixed-fee programs are currently available
to the following persons: (1) current subscribers of Franchise Trends, (2)
those who purchase one of the programs below solely through the Paypal payment
mechanisms on this site, and (3) those who understand that the services
provided for each program will be limited to the service provision parameters
set out in each program description.
The ability to offer these
fixed-fee programs at these rates is based on the efficiencies associated with the
collection of payments made directly through this electronic purchase program.
Accordingly, these programs may not otherwise be available from the firm at
these fixed rates.
The firm, however, of course, looks
forward to working with you in the manner in which you feel most comfortable.
If you have any questions about this program, please send an email directly to
Jeff Goldstein at [email protected]
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Limited Consultations: Questions on Legal
Issues Regarding Franchising and Distribution.
Under
this program, Goldstein Law Group will provide answers to a limited number of discrete
franchise-related legal questions asked by franchisees or potential
franchisees. The answers are provided by attorneys during one conference call
with the client, and the answers are based primarily on the attorneys'
expertise and experience in the area of franchise and distribution law. Limited
document review, usually of very specific provisions of an existing or proposed
franchise agreement, may be conducted as part of this abbreviated program.
$375.00
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Legal Review of Franchise and Dealership
Agreements - Two Potential Programs
Regardless of a franchisee's
ability to obtain modifications in the franchise agreement through
negotiations, a franchise agreement review is nevertheless crucial as it will
provide the franchisee a fundamental working knowledge of the pitfalls in the
franchise agreement that could later be applied to terminate the franchisee and
prevent him or her from continuing to engage in any related businesses after a
termination.
It is Goldstein Law Group's
experience that many franchisees and dealers are unaware of the legal
significance of a good number of the provisions in their franchise agreements. Without possessing this fundamental working
knowledge of the legal pitfalls and risks in their proposed franchise agreements
it is almost impossible for franchisees and dealers to meaningfully compare the
provisions in one franchise or dealer agreement with those in others that are
being offered by competing franchisors in the marketplace.
Goldstein Law Group provides the two
programs directly below regarding franchise agreement review services. These
programs focus on legal reviews, not on negotiations with potential
franchisors.
A. Fundamental Review of Franchise/ Dealership
Agreements /UFOC-FDD
Under this program, Goldstein Law
Group reviews in general fashion your franchise and dealership agreements, as
well the relevant UFOCs or FDDs, before they are signed. Many potential franchisees make the mistake
of not retaining counsel because the franchisor tells them that the agreement
is a "take-it-or-leave-it agreement. As part of this review, this program
provides for one conference call to discuss the firm's views and answer your
general questions.
This program is focused on your getting
a 'gut instinct' from an expert franchise lawyer as to the most ominous, or
deceptively benign, aspects of the franchise agreement. This program does not
include a detailed evaluation of the agreements, nor does it include negotiations,
which are included in the more comprehensive programs below. This program is
most beneficial to those who are contemplating purchasing a franchise, but who
are still "on the fence."
$900.00
B. Detailed Review of Franchise/Dealership
Agreements/UFOC-FDD
This program involves a thorough
analysis of your proposed franchise agreement and UFOC or FDD. This program is
far more comprehensive than the Fundamental Review above. It also includes the
identification of any important franchise-specific statutes or laws in your
state. Even an isolated word or term in one of these agreements has the real
potential to determine the success or failure of your business.
This program also provides for the
identification of state-specific franchise legislation that might bear on the
proposed franchise agreement or relationship. This program does not include
negotiations which are included in other programs below. As part of this
review, this program provides for two conference calls to discuss the firm's
views and answer your general questions.
This program is the most beneficial
to those who are pretty certain that they will go forward with their franchise
purchase, but who do not wish an attorney to attempt to negotiate different or
additional points in their franchise agreements.
$1450.00
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Detailed Comprehensive Review and Negotiation
of Franchise/Dealership Agreements/UFOC-FDD
Under this program, Goldstein Law
Group provides the same detailed review and analysis as the Detailed Review of
Franchise/Dealership Agreements/UFOC-FDD Program above, but also includes
attempts to negotiate the proposed franchise agreement with the potential
franchisor. Again, as noted above, there is no guarantee that a franchisor will
always agree to negotiate over certain provisions in its franchise agreements.
In those cases where negotiations
have led to the modification or addition of particular provisions or terms in a
franchise agreement, it is crucial to have an attorney review the new language
to make certain that the new legal language achieves the purpose of the
modifications or additions. It is not an uncommon occurrence for the franchisor
to draft up an addendum allegedly incorporating agreed-upon modifications or
additions which, upon scrutiny, would be unenforceable by the franchisee.
This program includes full review,
negotiations, and approval of any addendum or other modified contractual
language in the body of the franchise agreement that could arise from
negotiations with the franchisor.
$1900.00
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Non-Fixed-Fee Legal Services Programs
Goldstein Law Group
www.goldlawgroup.com
(As of Spring 2010)
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Legal Evaluation of Business Disputes.
Under this program, Goldstein Law
Group prepares legal evaluations of existing business disputes or those that
are likely to arise in the near future. This program stresses the need for
clients to be proactive in the face of business problems.
The Firm's long experience in
addressing these types of problems has led to its very strong position that
clients have much more leeway to achieve a more favorable resolution of a their
problems if they are addressed at the time that the disputes are playing
themselves out - not after the disputes have played themselves out .
Experienced and able litigators
have the ability to actively and in real-time contour the landscape of the litigation
battlefield on which they might later have to appear. However, such contouring
cannot take place in a vacuum. This
program is intended to provide clients with meaningful and accurate legal
benchmarks related to particular problems; in this regard, many times it is the
conduct of clients after a problem has arisen - not before -- that seals their
legal fates.
Fees Based on Discounted Hourly
Rates for Subscribers of Franchise Trends.
Commercial and Complex Litigation.
Goldstein Law Group has made its
reputation as a boutique litigation law firm, although it now has a very active
counseling practice as well. The Firm actively litigates in state and federal
courts in cases around the country. The Firm also actively tries arbitration
cases. The Firm is a proponent of mediations in appropriate circumstances, and
participates in these as well.
Fees Based on Discounted Hourly
Rates for Subscribers of Franchise Trends.
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Legal Evaluation of Contemplated or Ongoing Litigation.
Under this program, Goldstein Law
Group prepares written legal evaluations and opinions about contemplated
litigation, or litigation that is pending in matters not being handled by Goldstein
Law Group. Because the stakes of litigation are incredibly high, this program
is more formal than the others, and results in a more formal written product.
Litigation evaluations are
multi-faceted, involving a complex analysis and synthesis of many factors,
including, for instance, viability of claims, choice of potential claims,
choice of courts, choice of forums, choice of defendants, and choice of
lawyers. In addition to these explicit factors, there are also just as many implicit
factors, such as choice of strategies and choice of tactics, which are just as
important.
Although it is, of course, impossible to predict the
result of litigation, Goldstein Law Group's expertise and experience permits
its lawyers to provide very realistic general views regarding the likelihood of
success of particular ongoing or planned litigation. In this regard, the Firm
also provides legal evaluations and opinions of litigation that has been
concluded with a judgment against you by a trial court; in these
cases, clients' decisions regarding
possible appeals are no less -- and possibly more -- important than those
regarding trial litigation.
Fees Based on Discounted Hourly
Rates for Subscribers of Franchise Trends.
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GOLDSTEIN, P.O. Box 1707, Leesburg, VA 20177 MAIN: 202-293-3947 FAX: 202-315-2514 © 2010 Goldstein Counselors At Law |
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