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Law And Order A sneak peek into franchising's future.

By Laura Tiffany

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

What legal issues does franchising face as it approaches 2000?To find out, we asked those with their fingers on the pulse of theindustry: franchise attorneys Rochelle B. Spandorf, a partner withLos Angeles law firm Foley & Lardner, and Lewis G. Rudnick, apartner with Chicago franchise law firm Rudnick & Wolfe, whogave us the lowdown on the issues.

  • Web encroachment. When you begin retailing over theInternet, you may find yourself encroaching on someone else'sexclusive territory, says Spandorf. "[Franchisors] may need tohave franchisees who have exclusive territorial protection sign anamendment to their contracts," she says, "and it maycause some difficulty in franchise relationships."
  • New market encroachment. "A few cases have croppedup that raise questions about whether the franchisee has a claimfor bad faith when he or she feels a franchisor has put a new unittoo close to an existing unit or when it sells in anotherdistribution channel [such as supermarkets]," says Rudnick."The system expansion conflict issue will probably be resolvedby developing procedures to avoid conflict, rather than throughlitigation."