The International Who's Who of Franchise Lawyers has brought together five of the leading practitioners in the world to discuss the key issues facing franchise lawyers today.

In Mexico, franchising is governed and regulated by the Mexican Industrial Property Law (IPL) and its regulations. The governmental agency in charge of applying the IPL is the Mexican Institute of Industrial Property (IMPI).

India is one the world’s largest and the fastest-growing emerging markets, and franchising has become a successful business model for many local companies.

In this section we analyse the findings of our research in greater depth to identify the firms and practitioners who stand out worldwide.

Who's Who Legal highlights the leaders in this practice area in 61 jurisdictions. One firm stands out in this edition: DLA Piper has 17 individuals listed from its offices in the USA, China and Hong Kong and is regarded as “the go-to firm for franchise”.

The feeling among interviewees based in the US and Europe is that, as a result of the recession, the domestic franchise market has contracted. At the same time, clients are demanding more from their lawyers.

Our research identifies a small but highly talented contingent of franchise lawyers.

Our research identifies 235 lawyers in 52 countries that offer clients the highest standards of franchise expertise in their home jurisdictions, and often beyomnd national borders.

Conventional wisdom holds that the franchise industry is quite robust in a recession, with some even going so far as to classify it as counter-cyclical.

Our research identifies 19 California based franchise practitioners. They represent franchisors, franchisees and companies of all sizes, across a wide variety of industries. This substantial group is made up of partners from 14 firms.

A select group of six lawyers from just three firms make up the franchise chapter.

There are four new names in the franchise chapter for this edition, which highlights the growing talent in the already strong Illinois franchise Bar and the continued growth and interest in this market. Twenty practitioners have been selected, hailing from seven firms.

Franchising is proving more and more popular with companies from all sectors and everywhere. The increasingly global nature of the practice area ensures that a greater number of individual countries and practitioners are featured than in any previous edition.