On May 24, commercial franchise litigator Patrick F. Moran secured a judgment in favor of the firm’s franchisor client in the amount of $460,065.93. The award concludes five years of hard-fought litigation and secures a complete victory for the firm’s client.
Gordon & Rees' client sells and maintains a system of franchised retail stores through the United States and internationally. The litigation stems from a Missouri franchisee’s attempt to extricate herself from the terms of an existing franchise agreement. The franchisee in question made misrepresentations about leaving the industry to the firm’s client in order to end the franchise agreement’s term while simultaneously planning to operate a competing retail brand in the exact same market.
Moran and his team of franchise attorneys were forced to engage in protracted litigation against the franchisee, including winning summary judgment on counterclaims filed against the firm’s client. Then, in 2019, Moran won a jury verdict in the Circuit Court of Greene County, Missouri in which the jury found the franchisee had in fact committed fraud in the attempt to evade the obligations of the franchise agreement. Finally, in post-trial proceedings, the presiding court awarded the firm’s client all of the attorney fees incurred in the multi-year legal battle.
Moran is part of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani's national franchise and employment practice groups. He regularly represents franchisors in commercial litigation and arbitration in achieving similar successful results.