Kevin Brendan Murphy

Franchise Attorney , Franchise Expert, Kevin B. Murphy, known in the industry as Mr. Franchise, is a San Francisco California franchise attorney franchise lawyer and internationally recognized, court-accepted franchise expert with an MBA and a 34-year practice devoted exclusively to franchise law.

Besides just "talking the talk," as most attorneys do, Kevin has actually walked the walk, owning and operating a very successful franchise. This perspective gives him the ability and experience to offer unparalleled advice and strategies. Try finding just that qualification in any other franchise attorney.

For over 24-years, Mr. Franchise has qualified as a court-accepted, testifying franchise expert witness in court and arbitration proceedings, sharing his 34-years of franchise industry knowledge and experience. It has also given him vast experience in knowing where the bullets come from in franchise litigation . . . and how to stay out of the line of fire. Try finding any other franchise attorney who is also a court-accepted, franchise expert.

In 2007, following extensive peer review and evaluation of franchise attorneys and consultants, Mr. Franchise was retained as the premier U.S. franchise expert by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), a specialized agency of the United Nations, Geneva, Switzerland, to speak at Singapore’s World Conference about franchising in Asian countries and developing uniform franchise regulations based on the U.S. regulatory model, hosted jointly by WIPO and the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (IPOS).

In 2008 he was selected as the premier U.S. franchise expert by the Jordan Intellectual Property Association to speak at their franchise symposium in Amman Jordan. Turning on the television in his hotel suite, Mr. Franchise viewed his first-ever camel race.

In 2010 Mr. Murphy was retained yet a second time as the premier U.S. franchise expert by the World Intellectual Property Organization to help draft a manuscript about franchising that was published in 2011.

Since 1993 (20-plus years), Mr. Murphy has also been an Approved MCLE (Minimum Continuing Legal Education) Provider by the State Bar of California, teaching franchise law, franchising vs. licensing (franchise vs. license), and intellectual property courses to California franchise lawyers and attorneys.

Franchise courses and a variety of franchise workshops and franchise seminars (including franchise feasibility workshops for companies considering franchise expansion and franchise marketing and management training for existing franchise companies) are offered by Mr. Franchise via online, interactive PowerPoint presentations or at your corporate office.

He holds degrees in Business Administration (B.S.B.A.) and Law (J.D.) from the University of San Francisco and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from San Francisco State University.

Kevin is the author of more than 50 publications, including four books on franchising and one book on trade secrets.

In addition to advising firms on how to franchise a business, franchise development, franchising vs. licensing (franchise vs. license options - avoiding disguised illegal franchises), drafting franchise operations manuals, franchise management training and continuing legal education (franchise MCLE).

Kevin also helps evaluate franchise disclosure documents. and franchise investments. The key here is to realize when it comes to franchise agreements you don’t get what you deserve or even what’s fair – you only get what you negotiate.

Mr. Franchise, through Franchise Foundations and based on his experience owning a very successful franchise as well as drafting and reviewing over 500 Franchise Disclosure Documents (FDD), helped pioneer FDD Evaluator.

FDD Evaluator is a Franchise Disclosure Document overview that examines the disclosures in the FDD and franchise contract to give a thumbs up or down and indicate red flags and provisions in the contract or business metrics to consider further or negotiate.

If a decision is made to move forward, the franchise investor can either negotiate directly with the franchise company – which many clients do – or retain Franchise Foundations for contract negotiations.

The cost of the FDD EVALUATOR is a specially-priced flat fee (send to Mr. Franchise for a firm quote).

Other law firms currently charge a "retainer" (= pay the retainer now, plus more later) of $4,000 to $8,000 applied against hourly rates of $300 to $600 per hour to review the FDD, etc.

Odds are they're not MBA's and haven't reviewed over 500 FDD's. And it's a 100% bet they've never owned a franchise before; they may talk the talk, but have never walked the walk. And they also aren't recognized, court-accepted, testifying franchise experts.  Finally, they only do a legal review and the legal perspective and legal-ese is not nearly as important as the financial and business issues of the franchise being considered.  For more information about FDD Evaluator click here .

His clients and projects range from small firms that franchise a business in a franchise development program for the first time to established companies who are household names and have thousands of outlets.

Some of his recent franchise expert accomplishments include franchise expert strategy and consulting in the landmark Nagrampa v. MailCoups Inc. and The American Arbitration Association case, argued and submitted En Banc before the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. This case invalidated the standard arbitration provision in a California franchise agreement on the grounds it was unconscionable.

He recently represented a client in an illegal franchise case, involving proven, willful violations of California's Franchise Investment Law, resulting in full restitution to his client, as well as an award of attorneys fees of $86,687 plus costs.

Kevin enjoys cats, mountaineering, backpacking, the Napa Valley Wine Country, writing, reading, teaching and travel to exotic places.

For more information, visit the Franchise Foundations website

Click here to see Mr. Franchise's franchise expert C.V.

Click here to contact Mr. Franchise Attorney directly