Franchise legal support

FDD review

An FDD has twenty-three items and a well-known set of places where problems hide. We read all of it against the FTC Rule and the franchise agreement, and return an item-by-item issue list rather than a general impression.

Published price
$400–1,500 / FDD
Turnaround
48 hours
Without us
$3,000–10,000

Fixed per unit, not hourly. No minimum engagement. Quoted before we start.

What you receive

A reviewed franchise disclosure document with issues flagged item by item against the FTC Rule.

  • An item-by-item review of all twenty-three items against the FTC Rule requirements
  • Issues flagged with the item number, the requirement and what the document does instead
  • Financial performance representation reviewed for basis, substantiation and required disclaimers
  • Conflicts between the FDD and the franchise agreement identified with both references
  • Fees, initial investment and obligations tables checked for internal consistency
  • State-specific addenda checked where registration states are involved

What it costs, and what it replaces

Both figures are published ranges for the same unit of work. Ours is fixed before we start; if our process gets faster, that is our gain and your price does not move.

How engagements are structured →
Price per FDD · same work, both sides
Adnah Legal
$4001,500 / FDD
Typical cost without us
$3,00010,000 / FDD

Roughly 85% lower at the midpoint of each published range.

How the work runs

  1. 01

    Item-by-item pass

    Each item is reviewed against its specific requirement. Reviewing an FDD as a narrative document rather than item by item is how required content goes missing unnoticed.

  2. 02

    Agreement cross-check

    The FDD is compared against the franchise agreement it describes, since a discrepancy between the disclosure and the contract is both a legal problem and a negotiating point.

  3. 03

    FPR scrutiny

    Any financial performance representation is checked for its stated basis, substantiation and the required disclaimers, because that is where exposure concentrates.

  4. 04

    State and delivery

    State addenda are checked where registration states apply, and the issue list is delivered organised by item with a severity indication for your review.

What we need from you

  • The complete FDD including exhibits and the franchise agreement
  • Whether you act for the franchisor or a prospective franchisee
  • The states involved, where registration requirements apply
  • Any prior year's FDD, for comparison

What we check before delivery

  • Every item is confirmed reviewed, including the ones that rarely change
  • Cross-references between items and exhibits are verified
  • Fee tables are re-added and reconciled against the narrative and the agreement
  • Prior-year comparison is run where an earlier FDD is supplied, so quiet changes are surfaced

When firms send us this

  • Franchisee-side review before a client signs
  • Franchisor-side annual FDD updates and renewals
  • Registration state filings requiring the document to be right first time
  • Portfolio review across several brands' disclosure documents

Questions about fdd review

  • Do you advise the client on whether to buy?

    No. We produce the issue list for the engaging attorney; the advice to the client is yours.

  • Can you compare against last year's FDD?

    Yes, and it is worth doing. Year-on-year comparison surfaces changes to fees, obligations and litigation history that are easy to miss in a fresh read.

  • Do you handle state registration requirements?

    We check the state-specific addenda and flag registration requirements. The filings themselves go out under your firm's name.

This service

Send one and judge the output.

FDD review at $400–1,500 per FDD, 48 hours. No minimum, no scoping call, no onboarding cycle.

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