At TexasRestaurantLaw.com, we have covered “Who Owns Your Restaurant Name?” and “Is Your Restaurant Recipe Safe?” However, we have not previously discussed the many parts of restaurant intellectual property. This post shows some of the most critical pieces that encompass restaurant intellectual property. Your Name & Brand We all hear that branding is everything. Likewise,… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Negotiation
Subscribe to Negotiation RSS FeedHow To Deal With Restaurant Partner Disputes
Posted in Commentary, Contracts, Corporate Entity, Franchises, Franchising, Liability, Litigation, NegotiationThere are many motivations for restaurant creation and investment. However, these different desires can lead to conflict, so how are restaurant operators, owners, and investors supposed to resolve these conflicts? This post answers that question, and it gives a game plan to operators, owners, and investors to deal with these inevitable conflicts. Step One: Avoid… Continue Reading
Sugar And Horses: How To Deal With Restaurant Supply Issues?
Posted in Commentary, Liability, Litigation, Negotiation, News, Recent Law Trends, VendorsTwo recent news stories present the issue of how restaurants should deal with supply issues. The first story is the infamous horse meat scandal that has plagued Burger King in the United Kingdom since January. Click here for that story. The second story appeared in today’s Wall Street Journal. It deals with the fact that… Continue Reading
When To Terminate A Restaurant Transaction
Posted in Acquisitions, Commentary, Competition, Contracts, Franchises, Franchising, Liability, Litigation, NegotiationRestaurant transactions are similar to the old Kenny Rogers song, The Gambler – “You’ve got to know when to walk away, and know when to run!” Perspective is so important in general, and in restaurant transactions, you must know when to move forward on deals and when to kill them. But how do you determine… Continue Reading
What Makes Restaurant Litigation So Darn Expensive?
Posted in Liability, Litigation, NegotiationWe get this question quite a bit. There’s a dispute. Our restaurant client knows they are right. The restaurant wants a quick result and wants it done inexpensively. What in the world is takes so long or costs so much? Shown below are some answers to this question and some ways to reduce your litigation… Continue Reading
Biggest Legal Causes Of Restaurant Failures
Posted in Acquisitions, Commentary, Franchises, Franchising, Liability, Litigation, Negotiation, Real Estate, Recent Law TrendsJust this week, two of my favorite restaurants in Dallas closed operations. This led me to consider the biggest issues I have seen that factored into a troubled restaurant. A few of these may not be a surprise, but you may be shocked at others. Consider this list of top legal reasons why restaurants fail:… Continue Reading
The Absolutely Essential Issues In A Restaurant Lease
Posted in Acquisitions, Contracts, Corporate Entity, Franchises, Franchising, Liability, Litigation, Negotiation, Real EstateLeasing is a big issue for restaurants. Almost all restaurants at least start out leasing their space. Often, restaurants are required to lease their space to capture the prime locations of a given area. For these reasons and many more, it is vital for restaurant owners to pay close attention to leasing terms. The following… Continue Reading
Can An Email Bind Your Restaurant Like A Contract?
Posted in Acquisitions, Commentary, Contracts, Employees & Waitstaff, Liability, Litigation, Negotiation, Recent Law Trends, VendorsWe all think of email as a convenience. The same is true for text messages. These are just easy ways to communicate. They don’t really mean anything. Right? Wrong! Email and text messages are some of the most dangerous tools created. They are powerful. They are permanent. And in Texas, they are binding. Don’t believe… Continue Reading
How To Spot Good Restaurant Investments
Posted in Acquisitions, Contracts, Franchises, Negotiation, News, Recent Law TrendsBy all accounts, 2013 should be a great year for the Texas restaurant industry. For just one example, click on this link, which is an article by Teresa Gubbins from austin.culturemap.com. According to the article: A report by the National Restaurant Association says that the Texas restaurant industry will lead the country in sales growth… Continue Reading
The Single Biggest Mistake Made When Selling A Restaurant
Posted in Acquisitions, Contracts, Liability, Litigation, NegotiationNow that we’re all stuffed and overweight after Thanksgiving, I thought that I would mention another type of over-doing it: your representations to a potential buyer when you decide to sell a restaurant. These representations are critical to the success of a sale, both before negotiations begin and after you close on the sale. With… Continue Reading
Loan Documents: 3 Top Issues For Restaurant Borrowers
Posted in Contracts, Lending, Liability, NegotiationAs much as we wanted to tie in Thanksgiving to this post (think puns on words like “gobble”, “pilgrim” or “stuffing”), we thought that you might want to know more about loan issues this week. The economy is still not in full recovery mode, and as such, we are still dealing with some bank work-outs…. Continue Reading
Is Franchising The Only Key To Restaurant Success?
Posted in Contracts, Franchises, Franchising, Legislation, Liability, Litigation, NegotiationWe talk a lot here about franchising and for good reason. After all, many restaurant owners make great money by developing or buying into a great franchise concept. However, some restaurant owners take a different approach: they develop their own brand and remain the key figure in each additional restaurant. Stephen Pyles is one such… Continue Reading
The Top 5 Considerations Before Buying A Restaurant
Posted in Acquisitions, Commentary, Franchises, Franchising, Liability, NegotiationDespite the “Great Recession”, the restaurant industry continues to thrive. One of the latest great examples of this is the expansion of Asian cuisine. For instance, a new franchise concept called Mama Fu’s is set to open 14 new restaurants in the Dallas area alone over the next several years, according to this article from… Continue Reading
What To Know About Texas Alcohol Permits: An Industry Perspective
Posted in Alcohol, Commentary, Competition, Legislation, Liability, Negotiation, News, VendorsObtaining and dealing with alcoholic beverage permits requires a lot of time and effort, and it can be full of legal pitfalls as well. Sometimes you need a lawyer, but often an outside alcohol permit company can be more cost effective. As one example, we recently interviewed Nancy Scott, with Joe LaBarba Permit Service in… Continue Reading
Help: The City Wants To Shut Down My Restaurant!
Posted in Alcohol, Liability, Litigation, NegotiationThe unthinkable has happened – your restaurant, your baby, is being threatened by the “man”, and it’s up to you to save the day. Don’t worry – help is on the way! How Did This Happen? Let’s first discuss why this may have happened. Most cases of restaurant closure fall into the following categories: (1)… Continue Reading
Is A Restaurant Franchise Right For You?
Posted in Acquisitions, Franchises, Franchising, NegotiationWe’d all like to become the next great franchise with the wealth and notoriety that goes with it. However, not all franchises are created equal, and even more often, a franchise itself is not even the right fit. New To Restaurants? If you’re not already a restaurant owner, the question is “to franchise or not… Continue Reading
5 Ways to Avoid Costs of Acquiring Restaurants
Posted in Acquisitions, Contracts, Corporate Entity, Franchises, Negotiation, Real Estate, VendorsAll too often the margins of restaurant acquisition require stringent cost control. To help, here are five things to keep those costs low when considering the purchase of a restaurant: 1. Assemble Your Team – It’s hard to decide when to get your team of counselors (like attorneys, accountants, appraisers) involved in a deal. If… Continue Reading
Put More Money in Your Pocket: Perform a Lease Audit
Posted in Contracts, Franchises, Litigation, Negotiation, News, Real EstateDid you know that you have a 90% chance of overpaying operating costs (CAM, Taxes and Insurance) under your lease, if you fail to check the calculation for accuracy. This comes from the December 2009 edition of Commercial Tenant’s Lease Insider. Many landlords do not take the time to reflect tenant-specific exclusions, caps, etc…. Continue Reading
Is Your Restaurant Business Down? 5 Things That May Help
Posted in Commentary, Competition, Franchises, Litigation, Negotiation, Real Estate, VendorsIn our last post, we wrote about 5 Things Not To Do when your restaurant business is down. This week, we’re talking about 5 Things That May Help in the event that you have more people to pay than funds to pay with. Therefore, take it from some restaurant lawyers that have seen many mistakes,… Continue Reading
Is Your Restaurant Business Down? 5 Things Not To Do
Posted in Contracts, Corporate Entity, Employment, Franchises, Litigation, Negotiation, Real Estate, Recent Law Trends, VendorsIt’s no secret that many restaurants are suffering from the current recession, which is hopefully going to end soon. As a result, many restaurant owners are faced with the dilemma of “who to pay” when there’s not enough funds to pay everyone. In situations like these, it’s easy to make a misstep. With that in… Continue Reading
5 Things Your Restaurant Insurance Won’t Protect You From
Posted in Contracts, Corporate Entity, Franchises, Litigation, Negotiation, VendorsWe all know that insurance is the best protection from most forms of liability in a restaurant. However, there are a variety of things that insurance doesn’t protect against. Here are five things often omitted from insurance coverage, and some solutions to this issue. 1. Creditors In General – Creditors come in a variety of… Continue Reading
Ten Keys to Negotiating Your Restaurant Lease
Posted in Acquisitions, Contracts, Negotiation, Real EstateFor the most part, restaurant owners lease their property, at least when starting out and often permanently. As such, negotiating a lease can be a stressful experience. To reduce some of that stress, we’ve put together the following Ten Keys To Negotiating Your Restaurant Lease. PRIMARY CONCERNS 1. Net vs. Gross Lease. Every lease is… Continue Reading
How To Turn Your Competitors Into Assets
Posted in Acquisitions, Commentary, Competition, Corporate Entity, Franchises, Negotiation, VendorsThe start of a new year often reminds us to try new things. I suggest that this year you try turning your competitors into assets. There are a variety of ways to do this, but this post will show one unique and forgotten strategy of achieving this goal. If You Can’t Beat’em, Join ‘Em Believe… Continue Reading
The Best of TexasRestaurantLaw.com 2009
Posted in Acquisitions, Alcohol, Commentary, Contracts, Corporate Entity, Employment, Franchises, Immigration, Intellectual Property, Legislation, Litigation, Negotiation, News, Recent Law Trends, VendorsWe couldn’t close out the year without a “Best of 2009″! Here’s the best TexasRestaurantLaw.com content of the year, based on your enthusiasm via comments, links, and retweets. We thank you all for your continued support! Let’s get started: Recent Nutrition Law Trends – This will likely be a continued source of legislation on… Continue Reading