Franchise Times is reporting that the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) has now provided clarity to the upcoming standard for recognizing license fee revenue. The new standard categorizes franchise licenses as "symbolic" licenses with a single performance obligation, thereby requiring initial franchise fees to be amortized over the entire life of the license. For franchisors, this... Continue Reading →
Earlier this month, a bipartisan majority of the U.S. House of Representatives voted to enact the Save Local Business Act ("SLBA"), which would amend the National Labor Relations Act and the Fair Labor Standards Act by providing a more limited definition of "joint employer" liability. If passed by the Senate, the SLBA will roll back... Continue Reading →
Last week I learned for the first time about the organization "Count Me In" and its #WVEC2013 small business pitch competition initiated through the Women Veteran Entrepreneur Corps. The program is designed specifically for women business owners who are themselves veterans or are the spouse/daughter of a veteran. Being a veteran myself, I simply had... Continue Reading →
Over the past several years, I have worked with a number of businesses looking to expand, whether through organic internal growth, franchising, joint ventures, or other avenues. I could spend days and several posts writing on the various options available and how to determine which model is best suited for your particular business (and in... Continue Reading →
The Treasury Department announced yesterday that the ObamaCare mandate on employers to provide workers with health insurance will be delayed until 2015. Although the delayed implementation will no doubt serve to provide some much needed time for business owners to assess the requirements and develop their individual strategies, the ultimate question here is whether it... Continue Reading →
Following a series of cyber "hacks" of computer systems at Wyndham Worldwide Corporation, the FTC launched a legal battle against Wyndham and several of its subsidiaries which essentially seeks to hold Wyndham (not the actual hackers) responsible for the data breaches. In a series of crafty wordsmanship and hypothetical comparisons, Wyndham claimed in court papers... Continue Reading →
A few weeks ago I posted here and published an article in the @FWBusinessPress about the proposed legislation to adopt a version of the Uniform Trade Secrets Act in Texas. I am happy to now report that the Legislature and Governor Rick Perry have made that proposal a reality. Late last week, Gov. Perry signed... Continue Reading →
Franchise systems, like businesses in general, no doubt recognize that today’s ever-increasingly competitive marketplace means taking those extra steps to ensure brand recognition. For retail businesses, this translates into creating familiar impressions which pass the drive-by-look test. In other words, will the typical consumer driving or walking down the street see a storefront and recognize... Continue Reading →
Texas is one of only four states which have not adopted the Uniform Trade Secrets Act. Indeed, the state of Texas actually has no body of law specifically focused on trade secrets; leaving considerations and evaluations of proprietary information and its use or misuse to an amalgamation of common law and other related but decentralized... Continue Reading →
As I arrived back to my office this afternoon from a morning seminar, I look out my window and discover quite an amazing feat being undertaken just a few floors below in Fort Worth's Burnet Park. Fort Worth Resident and Navy Veteran Ron White, a two time U.S. National Memory Champion, has memorized the rank,... Continue Reading →
TEXAS FRANCHISE LAWYER 