Top Franchise Legal Players: Jason Murray, Partner at K&L Gates

Jason Murray is a partner at K&L Gates , practicing in the area of franchise and distribution law and providing counsel and assistance with creating, managing, licensing, protecting and enforcing franchised business relationships, product distribution systems and dealership networks. Murray knew he wanted to pursue law ever since he was a child, and when his family, who owned a restaurant, asked him to join their business, he promised to return from law school with the necessary knowledge to franchise the concept.

“That was the deal. I didn’t have to do all the heavy labor, but I would come back and bring some franchising knowledge with me,” he said. “I found a great law professor in Byron Fox, one of the pioneers of law franchising, and his enthusiasm and my passion married perfectly — and I was off to be a franchise lawyer.”

Much like other businesses around the world right now, Murray said the biggest legal hurdle franchises are currently facing involves the COVID-19 pandemic. “There’s a tightrope that both the franchisor and the franchisee are walking right now,” he said. “If the franchisor responds too heavily or gets too involved in the day-to-day operations in managing COVID, are they perhaps creating liability? And then you have franchisees who are saying, ‘Help me,’ and franchisees are worried if they should simply follow CDC guidelines or do more.”

Despite the COVID-related challenges franchises are facing, Murray said his favorite thing about working with franchises is the diversity — among industries, entrepreneurial experience and race and gender. “It’s never a dull moment,” he said. “We’re doing all we can to increase the diversity in franchise practices.”