Franchise Paralegal

Position Summary

The Franchise Paralegal is responsible for supporting the preparation, execution, and compliance of franchise legal documentation across multiple jurisdictions. This role plays a critical part in franchise development transactions by ensuring franchise agreements, disclosure documents, and country and state registrations are accurate, compliant, and completed in accordance with federal and state franchise regulations.

Franchise Documentation and FDD Compliance

• Prepare, revise, and finalize franchise agreements, addenda, territory exhibits, and related legal documents.
• Process executed agreements, obtain internal signatures, and route completed documents to relevant teams.
• Maintain accurate version control across FDDs, agreements, and templates.
• Track FDD delivery dates and ensure compliance with FTC and state-specific disclosure timing requirements.
• Support preparation of annual FDD updates, including coordination of data for all items in the FDD across multiple departments.
• Draft, review, and revise franchise agreements, purchase agreements, broker agreements, referral agreements, and agreements to facilitate resale of franchise locations, ensuring compliance with federal and state regulations, as well as the company's standards and policies.
• Manage and maintain a database of franchise agreements, contracts, and related legal documents.

State Registration and Compliance Support

• Aid in preparing, submitting, and tracking initial franchise registrations and annual renewals.
• Maintain calendars for registration deadlines, deficiency letter responses, and amendment requirements.
• Maintain organized digital archives for all state correspondence, approvals, and receipts.
• Support internal compliance audits and documentation requests from Legal or Finance.
• Maintain data accuracy for monthly and quarterly reporting related to franchise sales documentation.
• Stay informed on franchise laws and regulations, industry standards and best practices.
• Conduct training sessions on legal compliance matters.

Franchise Operational Support

• Address legal inquiries, resolve disputes, and facilitate communication between franchisees and the legal team.
• Draft default notices for non-compliance of franchise agreements and cease and desist notices for trademark infringement, post-termination violations, and others.
• Aid attorneys in franchise-related litigation matters by conducting research, preparing legal documents, and coordinating with outside counsel as needed.

Cross-Functional Coordination

• Liaise with Legal, Franchise Development, Finance, and Operations to gather required information and resolve discrepancies.
• Provide clear, structured communication on document status, outstanding requirements, and compliance timelines.
• Perform various administrative tasks, including maintaining calendars, scheduling meetings, and managing correspondence related to franchise matters.
• Escalate issues appropriately when dealing with terms, data inputs, or compliance factors requiring clarification.

Process Adherence and Incremental Improvements

• Follow established documentation workflows, naming conventions, and repository structures.
• Identify small, scope-appropriate improvements to templates, trackers, or filing systems.
• Maintain accurate and compliant data within enterprise platforms (e.g., FranConnect, SharePoint, PandaDoc).
• Ensure confidentiality and integrity of all franchise and legal documents.