Franchise Laws, Arsenic Scares and More Lawsuit Updates

Last week, we covered a speech from M&A expert John O'Connor, the basis of which was that franchise laws raise the values of distributorships and the brands within them. We received a couple of good responses to his statement that the Major Brands v. Glazer's and Diageo case conclusion devalued all parties involved and possibly all distributorships in the state [see WSD 03-28-2014]. "While I certainly agree that franchise protection increases the value of a distributorship and the individual brand