Experienced Business Franchising & Trademark Lawyers

Hoffer Adler LLP

About

We are proud to be recognized as one of the top franchise law firms in Canada, and proud of the recognition our partners have as leaders in their respective fields.

Our lawyers’ expertise is consistently recognized by peers and clients through repeat entries in International Who’s Who of Franchise Lawyers, Lexpert, Franchise Times, National Post’s Best Lawyers in Canada, Canadian Who’s Who and Martindale-Hubbell. Our firm is also a member of the International Network of Boutique and Independent Law firms (INBLF), whose membership is restricted to thoroughly vetted boutique law firms with highly credentialed and experienced lawyers in North America and high quality member firms elsewhere throughout the world. Finally, our firm is uniquely positioned as one of the few franchise law boutique firms in Canada. We’ve represented franchisors, franchisees and franchise associations of over 590 franchise brands, making us a firm that is deeply rooted and aware of franchising trends. 

Our mission

Our firm is deeply committed to delivering intelligent and cost-effective legal advice and representation to our clients. We want to protect your brand, expand your wealth, and protect your investment.  

Our values

Our lawyers’ expertise and experience, combined with our boutique size, allows our firm to provide practical, value-added and cost effective legal services.

We provide clients with timely and effective legal service and advice.

  • Active members of trade associations in their practice areas, participating in boards and committees of organizations such as:
    • Ontario Bar Association (OBA); 
    • Canadian Bar Association (CBA);
    • American Bar Association (ABA);
    • Canadian Franchise Association (CFA);
    • International Franchise Association (IFA);
    • International Franchise Lawyers Association (IFLA); and
    • International Trademark Association (INTA).
  • Members of the Medico Legal Society of Toronto, the Toronto Lawyers’ Association, the Advocates’ Society, and the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada (IPIC).
  • Our partners include the Past President of the Intellectual Property Institute of Canada (IPIC), Past Chair of the Intellectual Property Section of the Canadian Bar Association (CBA)
  • Active speakers, legal writers and editors in our lawyers’ respective fields. We have contributed articles on current legal developments in print publications such as Cablecaster Magazine, ABA Franchise Journal, Franchise and Distribution Journal, and Journal of Intellectual Property Law and Practice, The Trademark Reporter, European Intellectual Property Review, Canadian Intellectual Property Review, Canadian International Lawyer, and ICLG’s Franchise Laws and Regulations.
  • Regularly invited to speak at events organized by the CFA, IFA, ABA and OBA, and have lectured at some of Canada’s top law schools.

It is our priority to provide cost-effective legal advice and representation. Beginning with our earliest discussions with you, we will try to evaluate the financial costs of what you are trying to accomplish and discuss with you how we can tailor your legal strategy accordingly. We will gratefully decline the opportunity to act as your lawyer if we do not believe that we can accomplish your legal goals cost-effectively.

How we will bill you will depend on what services you are asking us to provide you with.

Commercial/Transactional Work. Whenever possible, we will propose a fixed-fee approach so that you can confidently anticipate how much our services will cost. Examples of legal work in respect of which we can offer fixed-fee approaches include the preparation of a franchise disclosure document, franchise agreements, or master franchise agreements; the adaptation of foreign disclosure documents to conform with Canadian franchise laws; and the review of franchise disclosure documents and franchise agreements for prospective franchisees. Sometimes, it may not be practical for us to offer you a stricly fixed-fee approach, in which case we may propose to proceed on the basis of our hourly rates or a hybrid fixed-fee/hourly rate approach. Examples of legal work in respect of such a modified approach may be suitable include the negotiation of franchise agreements or the purchase and sale of an existing franchise. We will require of you to pay us a mutually-agreed upon sum as a “retainer”, which we will hold in trust for you, typically until our work is completed; at that point, we apply the retainer funds to our final bill to you and refund to you any balance.

Litigation Work. The cost of litigation can be very difficult to predict because much of the cost is determined by the actions taken by your opponent. Accordingly, we will typically bill you on the basis of our lawyers’, clerks’, and students’ hourly rates, which we will discuss with you in advance; we will usually issue bills to you on a monthly basis if we undertook any legal work for you in the previous month. At the outset, we will also typically require of you to pay us a mutually-agreed upon sum as a “retainer”, which we will hold in trust for you, typically until our work is completed; at that point, we apply the retainer funds to our final bill to you and refund to you any balance. Because we are mindful of the cost of litigation, we look for early opportunities to resolve disputes without entering into litigation; for instance, we typically make an effort to negotiate with your opponent before suing. We also make use of alternative dispute resolution, such as mediation and arbitration, whenever we believe it is appropriate to do so.

Trademarks. Much of the work done with respect to trademark applications and registrations is charged on a flat-fee basis. We will typically apply discounts against volume work, such as multiple filings of related applications. Other work is billed hourly. It is our typical practice to discuss the scope of work in advance and provide cost estimates before any work is undertaken.

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