Eleanor Gerhards

Practice Areas

Eleanor serves as outside general corporate and franchise legal counsel to startup and established franchise clients. She guides the structuring of franchise programs, drafts franchise documents and counsels clients on regulatory compliance and state registration matters.

She handles a variety of complex matters for clients, including acquisitions and sales of franchise businesses; administration and negotiation of supply chain agreements and relationships; advertising fund creation; conversion of licensing, subscription or distribution models to franchise systems; coordination with foreign counsel on expansion of brands outside the United States; foreign brands entry into the U.S. market; master franchising, multi-unit licensing and area-development business arrangements; risk management alternatives to standard insurance products for a franchisor and its franchisees, including risk retention groups, captives and risk purchasing groups.

Eleanor also frequently provides franchise sales legal compliance training to her client’s C-suite executives and marketing teams.

A partner in the firm’s Corporate Department and Co-Chair of the Franchising & Distribution Practice Group, Eleanor represents regional, national and international clients in a broad range of matters with an emphasis on franchising, licensing and distribution; mergers and acquisitions; hospitality, hotel and restaurant growth and expansion; venture capital and angel financing; securities and private placements.

Eleanor also works with entrepreneurs and startup companies as well as established and emerging growth companies in the particular legal requirements, challenges and opportunities of their businesses. She has experience drafting operating and shareholders' agreements, noncompetition agreements, private offering documents, supply and vendor agreements, commercial agreements and asset and stock purchase agreements.

Professional Memberships

Pennsylvania Bar Association | Bucks County Bar Association | American Bar Association, Women's Caucus Steering Committee | ABA Forum on Franchising | International Franchise Association, Philadelphia Women’s Franchise Network | Central Bucks and Eastern Montgomery Chamber of Commerce | Pennsylvania Restaurant and Lodging Association

Personal

Duquesne University (J.D., magna cum laude) | Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania (B.A., cum laude)

Expert in these Jurisdictions

Bar Admissions: Pennsylvania, New Jersey