Top Franchise Legal Players: Beata Krakus, UB Greensfelder LLP

Honoree: Beata Krakus

Role: Partner, UB Greensfelder LLP

Beata Krakus is a distinguished attorney in franchise law, recognized for her expertise in guiding clients through franchise compliance and transactions both in the U.S. and internationally. She has developed franchise programs for various industries, including real estate, hospitality, restaurants, fitness and healthcare. Beata's practice focuses on nationwide franchise registrations and exemption-based franchising, along with implementing marketing funds and national advertising programs. She excels in managing mergers, acquisitions and complex agreements with large franchisees and area developers, and her proactive counsel helps clients avoid litigation.

Internationally, Beata's experience as an attorney in the U.S., Sweden and Poland, along with her fluency in Swedish and Polish, gives her a unique edge in handling cross-border legal matters. Her strong relationships with foreign counsel further enhance her ability to manage international franchising challenges. Recognized by Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business as a “Leader in Their Field” in Franchise Law, Beata is commended for her extensive experience in corporate and M&A matters for franchisor clients. 

1851 Franchise reached out to Krakus to learn more about how franchisors can protect their brand and avoid legal mistakes. Check out her insights below.

1851 Franchise: What do you see as the most important things franchisors should do to protect their brand?

Beata Krakus: It depends a little bit on what you mean by “brand”, but getting a good trademark lawyer is a great start! The brand of any business is such a multi-faceted thing, and it permeates everything you do in a franchise system. Franchisors have to think about how their trademarks and brands in a broader sense are represented at brick-and-mortar locations, in print advertising, and in social media and online. They need to think about how suppliers use their brand. If they are expanding internationally, they need to ensure that the trademark and other IP is properly protected in the new markets. Some franchisors even worry about how their brand is represented in the metaverse.

1851: How important is the information in item 19?

Krakus: It’s extremely important. What a franchisor can and cannot share about unit financial performance is based on what is in Item 19. Franchisors should think through how they want to use the Item 19 information — in discussions with prospective franchisees, and in marketing and advertising. Then they need to make sure that they have the right information in Item 19 to begin with. 

1851: What is the single largest legal mistake brands make?

Krakus: Not ensuring that they and their staff understand franchise laws. We do a lot of franchise-related M&A work, and that is an opportunity to get a closer look at franchise regulatory compliance of different brands. Oftentimes it’s pretty obvious that, while well-intentioned, the people in charge of managing the franchise sales and onboarding process are not familiar with franchise laws, or are relying on faulty information. 

1851: How do you stand out as a franchise law firm?

Krakus: I’d like to think that we are business friendly. We always try to make sure that we understand as much as possible about our franchisor-clients’ businesses. The more we understand about them and how they work, the more we can offer tailored advice. Going back to the previous question, we also do what we can to help ensure that our clients have the tools to be as independent as possible when it comes to franchise law compliance. Whether it is providing franchise law compliance training for their teams or helping them develop template documents and streamline processes, we try to make sure they understand how to act in compliance with franchise laws.

1851: What is the best business advice you have received in your career?

Krakus: That problems just get bigger, the longer you wait. It’s easy to want to shy away from issues or try to find some roundabout way of avoiding them. At the end of the day though, just addressing issues as soon as they arise helps minimize their impact. It is not uncommon that the thing you perceive as a problem is not a problem at all from the perspective of the other party.

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