Preface

• Author: Rupert M. Barkoff, Andrew C. Selden

Preface

Fundamentals of Franchising represents the culmination of 20 years of work by

34 contributors. The Fundamentals project was conceived in January 1987 to fill

a void in franchise law publications. At that time, many books covered certain

aspects of franchise law at both beginning and advanced levels. However, no

publication was designed to give a broad overview of the law of franchising.

Consistent with the mission of the American Bar Association Forum on Franchis-

ing to educate its members in the field of franchise law, Fundamentals is intended

to introduce its readers to the legal areas in which franchise practitioners must be

conversant to represent their clients properly, effectively, and professionally.

In October 1987, the first “Fundamentals of Franchising” program was pre-

sented as a half-day seminar to some 70 attendees in Tucson, Arizona, in conjunc-

tion with the ABA’s Tenth Annual Forum on Franchising Program. Altogether,

“Fundamentals” has now been presented more than 30 times. The total attendance

to date exceeds 1,800.

Most of the materials presented in this book are direct descendants of the

papers developed for the Tucson program. The materials had been updated almost

annually through 1996, when the first edition of Fundamentals of Franchising was

released and, for purposes of this book, have been updated twice. Several of the

authors in this book were original participants at the Tucson program. Each chapter

has two authors, which broadens the perspective of each paper and ensures that the

papers express opinions that are within the mainstream views of franchise law prac-

titioners. The authors, contributors, and editors of this edition have, in the aggre-

gate, hundreds of years of legal experience, and include six past chairs of the Forum

on Franchising as well as present and past members of the Forum’s Governing

Committee. The papers necessarily reflect the experience, perspectives, and views

of their respective authors and do not purport to represent the position or opinion of

the American Bar Association or the Forum on Franchising.

For those readers who have been unable to attend a “Fundamentals” semi-

nar program, we strongly encourage you to do so. After all, there is no substitute

for live entertainment.

Rupert M. Barkoff

Andrew C. Selden

Editors

July, 2008

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