Biography: Franchise

Mr Vines is an officer and shareholder in the corporate practice group, and works in the firm's St Louis, Missouri office. He concentrates his practice in franchise and distribution and general business and corporate law. He is a nationally recognised expert in franchising and has testified as an expert witness. He has represented national, regional and local franchisors, and has provided advice on alternatives to franchising, structuring franchise and distribution programmes, complying with applicable state and federal laws and regulations, drafting legal documentation, handling franchise terminations and transfers, resolving franchisor-franchisee disputes, and defending state enforcement actions. He has assisted start-up and established franchisors, as well as franchisees and franchisee associations.

Mr Vines is a member of the franchise advisory board of the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) and a former member of the governing committee of the American Bar Association Forum on Franchising. He is a panel member of the Westlaw Round Table Group Expert Network, serves as a member of the IFA Legal Symposium planning committee, and is an editorial board member for LJN's Franchising Business & Law Alert. He has co-authored a chapter for the ABA Forum on Franchising publication, The FTC Franchise Rule: Analysis and Commentary and was editor of another ABA forum publication, Mergers and Acquisitions of Franchise Companies. He is also a frequent lecturer on franchise topics for various organisations and has spoken at programmes sponsored by the American Bar Association forum committee on franchising and International Franchise Association, among others. Mr Vines has also been consulted on franchising issues by and quoted in the Wall Street Journal.