Akerman Expands Franchise and Licensing Practice in New York with Partner Dale Alexandra Cohen

Akerman LLP, a top 100 U.S. law firm, has expanded its Franchise and Licensing Practice with Dale Alexandra Cohen in New York. She joins as a partner from Kaufmann Gildin & Robbins, LLP.

Cohen follows the addition of partner Robert Smith in Washington, D.C., Franchise and Licensing Practice Co-chair Kevin Hein, special counsel Trish MacAskill in Denver, litigation partner William Sentell in Houston, and special counsel Jill Klein in West Palm Beach. The six new partners, combined with the experience of Franchise and Licensing Practice Co-Chair Warren Lewis in Washington, D.C., bring a wealth of knowledge in U.S. and international franchise and distribution matters.

"Dale has extensive experience managing a range of franchise and private equity-related matters across local, national, and international scales," said Kevin Hein, co-chair of the Franchise and Licensing Practice. "She has received national recognition for her success within the industry, and I am confident that she will prove a strong addition to our team."

Cohen focuses her practice on domestic and international franchising, distribution, and licensing law. Cohen advises both emerging and mature companies with respect to planning, structuring and implementing their franchise, distribution, and licensing programs. Her experience includes drafting franchise, master franchise, license and distribution agreements; preparing franchise disclosure documents (FDDs); securing registration of franchise offerings in the U.S. and abroad; negotiating and structuring complex system-wide supplier arrangements, as well as drafting agreements memorializing such system-wide supplier arrangements; implementing compliance programs and system-wide standards; and, counseling franchisors on a variety of franchise relationship issues, such as franchise termination and strategies to avoid and resolve franchisee disputes.

Cohen also has experience with franchise-related mergers and acquisitions (including assisting private equity firms with the purchase and sale of franchise systems), sophisticated franchise-related financing transactions (including the securitization of a franchisor’s royalty stream), and general corporate law.

About Akerman    

Akerman LLP is a top 100 U.S. law firm recognized among the most forward thinking firms in the industry by Financial Times. Its more than 700 lawyers and business professionals collaborate with the world’s most successful enterprises and entrepreneurs to navigate change, seize opportunities, and help drive innovation and growth.

Akerman’s Franchise and Licensing Practice assists start-up, regional, national, and international franchisors and licensors, as well as subfranchisors, and other businesses, on a wide range of matters, including structuring, acquiring, and selling franchise and licensing systems, handling state franchise registrations, counseling on state, federal, and international legal compliance matters, and resolving and litigating disputes. Its client roster includes businesses in a wide range of consumer-oriented and business-to-business sectors.

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