Andy is a shareholder in the firm of Briggs and Morgan, Professional Association, based in our Minneapolis office. He is a member of the Business Law Section and head of the Franchise Practice Group. Andy practices principally in the areas of:
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Franchising
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Antitrust
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Trademark
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Commercial law
Andy’s practice includes representation of franchisors, franchisee associations, individual franchisees, and franchise system purchasing and advertising cooperatives. He has counseled franchisors in the development and operation of regional, national and international franchise systems in numerous industries; negotiated international franchise joint ventures and licenses; counseled franchisors and franchisee associations in the formation and operation of regional and national purchasing cooperatives and advertising cooperatives; counseled franchisors and franchisee associations in connection with renegotiation of system franchise agreements and other contracts; and negotiated settlements of major antitrust and class action lawsuits affecting franchise systems. He advises manufacturers and service providers on how to structure distribution strategies to avoid inadvertent entanglement with franchise or “business opportunities” legislation, and provides antitrust and trademark law counsel to clients.
From 1985 to 1989, Andy was chairman of the American Bar Association Forum on Franchising, the ABA’s section on franchise law. He is a member and past chair of the Industry Advisory Committee of the Franchise Law Project Group of the North American Securities Administrators Association. He is listed in The Best Lawyers in America and has been selected as a “Leading American Attorney.” Andy has been repeatedly nominated by his peers as a Franchise Times “Legal Eagle.” He also has been recognized with the prestigious Lewis G. Rudnick Award of the American Bar Association Forum on Franchising for his substantial lifetime contributions and for being an outstanding practitioner of franchise law. Andy was the reporter for the Uniform Law Commission’s Uniform Franchise and Business Opportunities Act.
Andy has published articles in the Franchise Law Journal, The Business Lawyer, The Wall Street Journal and the Franchise Legal Digest. He was an accredited delegate of the International Bar Association to the Conference on a Model International Franchise Law sponsored by UNIDROIT in Rome, Italy. He is a frequent speaker at regional and national conferences on franchise law, antitrust law, and the business of franchising. Andy authored the handbook on franchising published by the Minnesota Department of Economic Development and is co-editor and a contributing author of the book, Fundamentals of Franchising (ABA Forum on Franchising).
Andy is a former member and former chairman of the board of directors of the Better Business Bureau of Minnesota and North Dakota. He is a member of the Hennepin County, Minnesota State and American bar associations and president of the Minnesota Association of Railroad Passengers. Andy has been listed as a Minnesota Super Lawyer and designated as on of the “Top 100 Super Lawyers” in Minnesota.
Andy received his B.A. from Carleton College. He received his law degree magna cum laude from the University of Minnesota, where he was elected to Order of the Coif and served as note and comment editor of the Minnesota Law Review. Andy joined Briggs in 1986.