Overview
The CSG Law Automotive Dealership & Franchise Law Team comprises a multi-disciplinary team of attorneys that guide automobile dealers in navigating the complexities of franchise law, the interdependent and at times adversarial relationship with original equipment manufacturers (“OEMs”), the growing web of applicable laws and regulations (including data privacy issues) that govern their business, and evolving industry trends, including the move toward electrification.
We bring to bear decades of M&A, commercial finance, real estate and environmental law experience in representing dealers in buy-sell agreements, floor plan financing, and the acquisition, disposition and leasing of facilities. Our team of lawyers are equally adept at representing investors purchasing dealership assets out of bankruptcy. In addition to handling purchase and sale transactions, we assist dealers with entity formation, DMV licensing, new dealer applications, manufacturer audits, DMS licensing agreements, franchise issues, FTC matters, challenges to new points, employment matters, estate and succession planning, and partnership disputes.
Amid a shift toward electric vehicles, franchisees are being asked to invest unprecedented amounts in equipment and facilities – the return on which is speculative or uncertain at best. We counsel dealers in negotiating with manufacturers on these weighty topics and can seamlessly shift from diplomacy to litigation when necessary to vindicate our client’s rights. We strategize and team with our clients to help them meet their objectives.
As a full-service law firm, our suite of services includes the following:
- Business formation
- DMV licensing
- Manufacturer applications
- Dealer sales and service agreement, bridge agreements and framework agreements
- Purchase and sale of dealerships
- Real estate dispositions and leasing
- Regulatory and statutory compliance
- Disputes with manufacturers
- Financing
- Litigation
- Consumer complaints
- Taxation
- Employment
- Environmental issues
- Collections
- Bankruptcy issues
- Franchise termination
