Lawyer Overview

Admitted to practice before the state courts of New Jersey, New York, Florida, Pennsylvania and Washington DC. Well versed in the highly regulated franchise environment and highly competitive lodging industry. A business oriented attorney focused upon efficiently and precisely implementing the business decisions of corporate executives.

EXPERIENCE

PRIME HOSPITALITY CORP., Fairfield, NJ - 1998-2001
Assistant General Counsel
Responsible for franchising of three separate hotel chains from the start-up phase, protection of company owned trademarks and stopping domain name infringers. Responsible for the sale of assets such as hotels and vacant land, resolving disputes arising out of hotel operations.

Negotiated resolution of dispute regarding encroachment into franchisee's area of protection without resort to litigation. Saved company potentially hundreds of thousand of dollars in legal fees and preserved goodwill between company and franchisee.

Successfully protected company's rights in a service mark challenged by Marriott Corporation. Forced Marriott to not only drop its challenge to company's service mark but to cease the use of its service mark that was similar to company's service mark.

Successfully stopped several domain name infringers from usurping the company's domain names.

Developed and maintained five separate reports for dissemination within the company regarding the franchise system: areas of protection (territorial protection), royalty discounts, critical dates, incentive grants and agreement abstracts.

Managed the legal side of the company's first nationwide sweepstakes, ensuring proper language and rules were utilized and filings were made.

Drafted from scratch, legal documentation for the franchising of time shares and vacation ownership resorts.

LAW OFFICES OF RICHARD FRANZBLAU, Somerville, NJ - 1992-1998

General Practice of Law, including the representation of lenders authorized by the Small Business Administration (SBA) to franchisees, advising prospective franchisees in a variety of industries.

Closed more than 100 SBA loans in a three-year period representing funding of several million dollars to start-up businesses such as Mailboxes, Etc., PostalNet, etc.

Taught class on "How To Buy A Franchise" on a quarterly basis through Hunterdon County Adult Continuing Education.

HFS INC. (now known as Cendant), Parsippany, NJ 1990-1992

PRIME MOTOR INNS, INC., (sold division to HFS), Fairfield, NJ - 1987-1990
Assistant General Counsel
Responsible for franchising and all other activities related to the support of the franchise system for the Howard Johnson and Ramada Hotel chains and the sale and development of hotels.

Developed from scratch International Franchise Agreement for the master development of Howard Johnson Hotels in Mexico, assisted in the negotiation of the master franchise rights for Canada.

Managed all franchise registration filings throughout the United States for the Howard Johnson and Ramada Hotel chains.

Areas of Practice

• Commercial Loans
• Franchises and Franchising
• Corporate Formation
• Hotel and Resort Development

West Practice Categories

Mergers & Acquisitions, Banking & Finance Law, Business & Commercial Law, Contracts, Franchising, Business Organizations, Formation & Business Planning, Real Estate Law, Commercial Real Estate

Bar Admissions

• Pennsylvania, 2004
• District of Columbia, 1979
• New Jersey, 1980
• Florida, 1981
• New York, 1983
• U.S. District Court District of New Jersey, 1980
• U.S. District Court Eastern District of New York, 1983
• U.S. District Court Northern District of New York, 1983
• U.S. District Court Southern District of New York, 1983
• U.S. District Court Middle District of Florida, 1981

Professional Associations and Memberships

• American Bar Association (Member)
• Florida Bar Association (Member)
• New Jersey Bar Association (Member)
• New York State Bar Association (Member)
• District of Columbia Bar Association (Member)
• American Bar Association Forum on Franchising (Member)
• Branchburg Rotary Club, 1998 - 1999 (President)

Past Employment Positions

• Prime Motor Inns, Inc., Assistant General Counsel, 1987 - 1990
• Hospitality Franchise Systems, Inc. (now known as Cendant Corporation), Assistant General Counsel, 1990 - 1992
• Prime Hospitality Corp., Assistant General Counsel, 1998 - 2001

Education

• Indiana University School of Law, Bloomington, Indiana, 1979
  J.D.
  Honors: cum laude
  
  Law Journal: Indiana Law Journal, Executive Editor, 1978 - 1979
• West Virginia University, 1972
  A.B.
• Miami University, 1974
  M.A.T.

Offers Free Initial Consultation

Published Works

• "How to Buy a Franchise", Hunterdon County Adult Continuous Education, Matthew Bender & Company, Quarterly Seminar, 1996
• "Powers of Appointment", New Jersey Transactions Guide, Chapter 203, Volume 11, 1986
• "Gifts of Personal Property", New Jersey Transactions Guide, Chapter 240, Volume 12, 1986
• "Commercial Office and Industrial Leases", New Jersey Transactions Guide, Volume 8, Chapter 141, 1985

Address

12301 Lake Underhill Road
Suite 217
Orlando, FL 32828

Phones

407-770-2520

Faxes

321-413-0300

Emails

Contact Us

Websites

http://www.rdfranzllc.com