Franchise education for young lawyers

AUT Law School is offering a paper in franchise law as part of its 2020 LLB syllabus. This is believed to be the first time that a full franchise law course has been offeredin New Zealand as part of a LLB degree. It will be taught by Adjunct Professor of Law Stewart Germann.

The course will consist of 12 x 2-hour lectures for 12 weeks with an assignment and a final exam going towards a student’s LLB or LLB Hons course. Topics covered will include:

• Franchising in New Zealand and business structure
• Intellectual property
• The Franchise Association’s Code of Practice and Code of Ethics
• The franchise agreement and the disclosure document
• Current issues in franchising
• Dispute resolution
• International aspects of franchising

‘The course is designed to help students understand the legal nature of the relationship between the franchisor and the franchisee, and to identify, interpret and apply relevant legal principles in the franchise context,’ says Stewart. ‘We don’t have franchise-specific legislation in this country, so it’s important for students to understand how case law has been developed and is applied in New Zealand’s courts – for example, with regard to restraint of trade issues.

‘This is a brand new course which I designed during lockdown to ensure that the next generation of lawyers has a proper understanding of franchising and the law. I have been working in this area for almost 40 years now, and it’s good to be able to make a contribution to the AUT Law School in this area.’

The course commenced on Friday 24 July.