About Us
For the past four decades, the team at DC Strategy Lawyers has provided quality legal counsel to our clients
We are advocates for the interests of our franchisor clients around the world. If you are considering purchasing a franchise, we provide personalised representation to help guide you through this process one step at a time.
Whether you’re in Australia, the United States, China, or some other country, we’ve got intermediaries near you with expertise in franchising within your sector. No other firm has appointed as many franchises as DC Strategy.
40 Years of Experience
+2,100 Franchise Locations
$2 Billion in Enterprise Value
Legal Services
Franchise Law
Franchising is governed in Australia by Commonwealth legislation under the Australian Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) (CCA). The Franchising Regulations, known as the Franchising Code of Conduct (the Code), sit within the CCA and encompass the many interconnecting legal matters that could affect franchisors and franchisees. As Australasia’s expert end-to-end franchising firm, our franchising lawyers can provide a wide range of legal services to franchisors and franchisees on every aspect of their business.
Business Structuring and Governance
Corporate law relates to all parts of the lifecycle of a company, from formation to dissolution, and its people, such as shareholders, boards and employees. It can concern transactions in the company’s lifecycle, such as the forming of a new company through a sale, merger or acquisition, or attracting investors. Our experienced lawyers can give you practical advice on what business structure will best suit your current situation, and how it can adapt to manage future development or growth. We will work to ensure the chosen structure maximises the potential and enterprise value of your business. We can assist in setting up the company and ensuring you have the correct Constitution and Shareholders Agreement to reflect the rights of the different shareholders and how the business should be governed. We are also able to assist in creating employee share schemes to motivate your staff and include them in the business’ growth and successes.
Supply and Distribution
After developing your franchise network, the next step is to establish your supply chain so that you can ensure uniformity of product quality and supply timelines across the network. We achieve this by establishing a strategic supplier network with you; facilitating tender exercises to obtain best quality and value and implementing master contracts and statements of work with the individual franchisees.
Intellectual Property and Trade Marks
Your brand could be your most valuable asset and if protected, your Intellectual Property (IP) can help you stand out from the crowd. It drives your income and final profit and builds value in your business. Your business is unique and needs to be set apart from the rest. Your brand and ideas are what get you there. Our IP lawyers can help you, not only to identify, establish and protect your trademark, but also your ideas and design concepts, so as to protect you from imitators and ensure the value of your products and brand assets are retained.
Business and Corporate Structuring
Our experienced lawyers can give you practical advice on what business structure will best suit your current situation, and how it can adapt to manage future development. We will work to ensure the chosen structure maximises the potential and enterprise value of your business.
Buying and Selling Businesses
Our commercial insight, gained from our years of experience advising new start-ups and established businesses, means that we give you the level of legal advice that you need. Buying or selling a business is a big decision to make both in terms of the capital outlay and also the human investment. There are also many legal factors to consider, so these sorts of decisions are best made with professional advice and, with our knowledge on the ins and outs of selling, both franchises and stand-alone businesses, we can guide you through the risks and potential rewards from signing contracts and right through to settlement.
Property Law and Conveyancing
After purchasing an existing business, the acquisition of property is often one of the biggest financial commitments a business will make. Whether you’re leasing your first office, locating a distribution hub or managing a portfolio of sites, you can rely on our property lawyers to negotiate preferable terms and help you to understand any risk or liability to help you achieve your commercial goals.