Spadea Lignana Named No.1 Franchise Law Firm by Entrepreneur Magazine

Spadea Lignana Franchise Attorneys was named the No. 1 Franchise Law Firm by Entrepreneur Magazine as part of their annual “Top Franchise Supplier” list. The firm came out on top of hundreds of other suppliers. Thousands of franchisors and industry professionals were surveyed to determine the annual rankings of all the category winners.

“We’re very excited and honored,” said Tom Spadea, one of Spadea Lignana’s founding partners. “We've been on that list for a couple of years now, and to get the top spot — we were just blown away. I had a lot of clients enthusiastically tell me that they voted for us, so it has been incredibly gratifying. It's really all thanks to the team that we have here. Our attorneys, paralegals, client relations team, everybody we have on the team, cares deeply about our clients, and to then have that reflected by our clients through their votes and support has been truly amazing.”

Suppliers were scored on client satisfaction with the quality, cost and value of each supplier’s services. Top suppliers were chosen in the following categories: legal services, consultants, accounting, merchant services, brokers, marketing, banking/financing, other technology services, public relations and real estate. 

Although Spadea Lignana is considered a young law firm at just 11 years old, they represent over 400 franchise systems. The Entrepreneur award is a testament to their approach of thinking seriously about the endgame. Spadea Lignana primarily represents founders with the goal of ensuring when they sell to private equity, all franchise agreements, state registrations, legal correspondence, trademarks and more will be in one place, ready for a rigorous due diligence dive by their prospective suitors to maximize their exit.

“We were able to jump to the top spot in a reasonably short amount of time in terms of how long we've been doing this,” said Spadea. “It really validates our philosophy on how we approach franchise law and franchisors in general. It feels great to be number one for sure.”

Spadea noted that the three most significant pain points most people have with law firms are the way they bill, the lack of transparency and a lack of responsiveness. And these are exactly the areas in which Spadea Lignana stands out as the top franchise legal firm. 

When it comes to billing, the firm uses a flat fee model. Spadea Lignana’s CORE program for franchisors is a cost-effective and practical solution for the ongoing legal needs of franchisors, including FDD updates, state registrations and franchise agreement executions. Through its proprietary cloud-based system, Spadea Lignana can effectively and efficiently manage FDDs and franchise agreement executions for a fair flat monthly fee. That way, “no one is looking at the clock,” said Spadea. “It allows us to build a better relationship with our clients.” 

Spadea Lignana has also custom built a technology solution to simplify the process and bring transparency and clarity to the franchise sales cycle. Clients have all the information the firm’s team has at their fingertips. For example, when the firm files in a state for a brand or when a state responds to a state registration filing, clients have instant access to their information. 

But above all, responsiveness is a key pillar of Spadea Lignana’s culture and approach with its clients. 

“Responses have to be measured within hours — not days and certainly not weeks,” said Spadea. “I really think that's a separating factor. We're able to do that because we have a team approach which allows us to be available when our clients need us most.” 

The entire Spadea Lignana team looks forward to continuing to serve their clients in the best ways possible. Together they strive to continue to impress the industry with hopes of being on top once again in 2024.

For more information on Spadea Lignana, visit https://www.spadealaw.com/.