Franchising

Hospitality franchise disputes are the defining conflicts that decide who controls an asset and on what terms. They take many forms: termination fights and liquidated damages, deflagging and brand-conversion battles, property improvement plan (PIP) disputes, territorial encroachment claims, royalty and fee disputes, and franchise disclosure claims. Each of these fights turns on the same fundamental reality - a franchise agreement binds an owner's asset to a brand's system, and when that relationship fails, the exit terms can decide the property's future. A single termination clause or liquidated-damages formula can put millions of dollars and the identity of the hotel itself in play. Brewer, Attorneys & Counselors steps in where the stakes are exceptionally high and the outcome will shape the value and direction of the property for years to come.

The Firm's hospitality practice represents owners, developers, and investors against the industry's largest brands - including Four Seasons, Marriott, and Starwood - in disputes over management, branding, and franchise relationships, with results that have shaped industry practice. These are not routine commercial matters; they are contests against sophisticated, well-resourced adversaries who defend their systems aggressively. The Firm brings principled, relentless advocacy to state and federal courts and to arbitration, meeting the brands wherever the fight is joined and pressing every advantage with unwavering focus.

Brewer's model integrates cutting-edge trial lawyers with in-house business consulting, investigative, and public relations professionals, because a brand exit is a commercial and reputational event, not just a legal one. The Firm builds each case with the financial, factual, and narrative dimensions in view, so that the courtroom strategy and the client's broader interests move together. That full-spectrum advocacy is deliberately litigation-only: the Firm does not negotiate or draft franchise agreements. When a dispute demands a courtroom or an arbitration panel, owners retain a team built to prevail.

Featured Employment Litigation Matter

In Woolley v. Embassy Suites, Brewer represented the managing general partners of 22 Embassy Suites-franchised hotel properties after the brand, acting as manager, exceeded approved expenditures. The owners sought - and won - the right to terminate the management agreements, in a decision that remains leading authority on hotel management agreements and the limits of injunctive relief in arbitration.

Franchise disputes are one dimension of the Firm's broader Hospitality Litigation practice.