Brian’s principal areas of expertise are franchise, distribution, and licensing law, real estate law, and general corporate and business law. He concentrates his practice on structuring franchise and distribution programs, organizing and representing franchisee associations, negotiating and preparing franchise, sub-franchise, licensing, and distribution agreements, representing franchisors and sub-franchisors in compliance with franchise laws, evaluating and negotiating supply and distribution arrangements; structuring international franchise and distribution arrangements; resolving franchise disputes; and counseling on other sales and distribution methods such as licensing, direct selling, sales representation, dealerships, and business opportunities.
Representative clients include franchisors, franchisees, manufacturers, distributors, dealerships, franchisee associations, franchise system suppliers, equity investment funds, and lending institutions. He served as a member of the Board of Directors of Meritage Hospitality Group, Inc. (listed on the AMEX), the world's largest publicly-owned franchisee of Wendy's Restaurants. He sat on the company's audit committee and chaired the compensation, corporate governance, and nominating committees. Earlier in his career, he held in-house positions as general counsel for Checkers Drive-in Restaurants, Inc., and senior positions with Wendy’s International Inc. and Pilkington plc f/k/a Libbey-Owens-Ford Co.
In the franchise law category, Brian has been selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America®. Brian has also been recognized by Franchise Times® as a “Legal Eagle” by his peers as one of the best lawyers in the franchise industry. The Best Lawyers in America® and the “Legal Eagles” designation by Franchise Times® are produced by a survey of lawyers in the United States who are asked to name the lawyers whom they hold in the highest regard.