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Franchisee Associations See Item 20 Disclosure Plan as One Step Forward, Two Steps Back
The Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) long-awaited Staff Report recommends the retention of an important advancement for the benefit of prospective franchisees: the mandated disclosure of trademark-specific franchisee associations in Item 20. Many franchisee advocates viewed this provision in the October 1999 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPR) as a laudable recognition of the legitimate and constructive role that franchisee associations can and do play in our industry, including as an unfiltered source of information for prospective franchisees.
Providing this source of information is essential, given the absence of mandated financial performance information in Item 19, the prevalence of the use of broad confidentially agreements in franchise agreements and settlement agreements, and the fact that the franchisee roster in Item 20 need not contain more that 100 names. The NPR proposal builds on the body of statutory and regulatory law in 11 states that explicitly protects the rights of franchisees to freely associate and a line of judicial decisions that demonstrates the willingness of judges and juries to find creative ways to punish franchisors that retaliate against franchisee association members and leaders. (For extensive treatment of this precedent, see Karp, “The Right of Franchisees to Freely Associate Bolstered by Legislation and the Courts,” FBLA, Volume 6, Number 7, April 2000.)
The DOJ's Corporate Enforcement Policy: One Year Later
The DOJ's Criminal Division issued three declinations since the issuance of the revised CEP a year ago. Review of these cases gives insight into DOJ's implementation of the new policy in practice.
Use of Deferred Prosecution Agreements In White Collar Investigations
This article discusses the practical and policy reasons for the use of DPAs and NPAs in white-collar criminal investigations, and considers the NDAA's new reporting provision and its relationship with other efforts to enhance transparency in DOJ decision-making.
How AI Has Affected PR
When we consider how the use of AI affects legal PR and communications, we have to look at it as an industrywide global phenomenon. A recent online conference provided an overview of the latest AI trends in public relations, and specifically, the impact of AI on communications. Here are some of the key points and takeaways from several of the speakers, who provided current best practices, tips, concerns and case studies.
The DOJ's New Parameters for Evaluating Corporate Compliance Programs
The parameters set forth in the DOJ's memorandum have implications not only for the government's evaluation of compliance programs in the context of criminal charging decisions, but also for how defense counsel structure their conference-room advocacy seeking declinations or lesser sanctions in both criminal and civil investigations.