ABA Forum on Franchising Presents Rudnick Award to Judith Bailey

This posting was written by John W. Arden.

Phoenix franchise attorney Judith Bailey is the 2012 recipient of the Lewis G. Rudnick Award, the ABA Forum on Franchising’s “lifetime achievement award” for franchise attorneys. The award was presented today during the group’s 35th annual meeting in Los Angeles.

Besides having a long and distinguished career as a franchise lawyer, Bailey served the Forum in many capacities for many years. She was the first woman to serve on the group’s governing committee and was instrumental in the formation of the women’s caucus. Today, women make up 50 percent of the governing committee, and members of the women’s caucus represent one-third of the entire membership of the Forum, according to Joseph Fittante, Chair of the Forum on Franchising.

Bailey attended every annual meeting from 1979 through her retirement in 2005 and helped create the Fundamentals of Franchising mini-program, which has become a “core curriculum” of the Forum, Fittante said.

The Rudnick Award was created in 2009 in remembrance of Lewis Rudnick, a founding member of the Forum and its second chair, who died in January 2009. He helped establish the Franchise Law Journal, the Forum’s quarterly publication. As senior partner of Rudnick & Wolfe (currently DLA Piper), he trained several generations of some of America’s leading franchise lawyers.

The Award is intended to honor those who have made substantial contributions to the Forum and to franchise law as a discipline, while comporting themselves in accordance with Lew Rudnick’s high standards of professionalism.

Previous Rudnick Awards were presented to John R.F. Baer of Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale, P.C.; Rupert M. Barkoff of Kilpatrick Townsend; and Andrew C. Selden of Briggs & Morgan.

The Forum on Franchising also conferred its Young Leadership Award on Alexander Tuneski of Kilpatrick Townsend in Atlanta for his work with the Newcomer’s/Young Lawyer’s Division events, the Forum service projects, and Franchise Law Journal.

Forum on Franchising Solicits Nominations for Annual Awards

This posting was written by John W. Arden.

The ABA Forum on Franchising is seeking nominations for its four annual awards—the Lewis G. Rudnick Award, the Chair's Award for Substantial Written Work or Presentation, the Chair's Future Leader Award, and the Chair's Explorers Award.

The Lewis G. Rudnick Award is a lifetime achievement award, honoring those who have made “substantial contributions to the development of the Forum and to franchise law as a discipline—by publishing scholarly articles; writing or editing texts; speaking at franchise law meetings; serving the Forum as an officer, committee chair or member, or journal editor; and/or recognized accomplishments as a practicing franchise lawyer—while comporting themselves in accordance with Lew Rudnick's high standards of professionalism, decency and collegiality.”

Since its inception in 2009, the Rudnick Award has been presented to longtime franchise practitioners and Forum leaders John R.F. Baer of the Greensfelder firm in Chicago, Rupert Barkoff of Kilpatrick Stockton in Atlanta, and Andrew Selden of Briggs and Morgan in Minneapolis.

The Chair's Award for Substantial Written Work or Presentation will recognize a young and/or diverse lawyer who has published a scholarly article in ABA The Franchise Law Journal or The Franchise Lawyer newsletter, or prepared a paper and presented a workshop at a Forum annual meeting.

The Chair's Future Leader Award will be presented to a young and/or diverse Forum member who has demonstrated a substantial commitment to the Forum by undertaking significant leadership efforts, such as mentoring other Forum members or law students; working on membership marketing or other outreach efforts; assisting with special projects undertaken by the Forum Governing Committee or a Forum Division; or assisting with the Forum's annual meeting.

Last year, the Future Leader Awards were given to Dawn Newton of Fitzgerald Abbott & Beardsley LLP in Oakland, California and Jane Edmonds of Cassels Brock in Toronto.

The Chair's Explorers Award is designed for newcomers to the Forum who have demonstrated an interest in pursuing a career in franchise law. Any Forum member who is or has been a Governing Committee member or ad hoc member is ineligible to receive a Chair's Award.

Nominations for these awards should be sent by September 1 to Forum Chair-Elect, Joe Fittante at: jfittante@larkinhoffman.com. Fittante and Ron Gardner will choose the recipients, subject to the approval of the Forum Governing Committee, and the awards will be presented during the 34th Annual Forum on Franchising, October 19-21, in Baltimore.

Barkoff, Selden Receive Rudnick Award from ABA Forum on Franchising

This posting was written by John W. Arden.

Rupert M. Barkoff and Andrew C. Selden are co-recipients of the second Lewis G. Rudnick Award for their contributions to the American Bar Association Forum on Franchising and the development of franchise law. The award was presented on October 14, during the Forum’s annual meeting in San Diego.

Barkoff, a partner in the Atlanta office of Kilpatrick Stockton LLP, and Selden, a shareholder in the Minneapolis office of Briggs and Morgan, are former chairs of the Forum on Franchising and members of the group’s governing committee.

In announcing the award before the opening session of the annual meeting, Forum chair Ron Gardner noted that both recipients practiced franchise law for nearly 40 years, have been consistently recognized as outstanding practitioners, have served as leaders and active members of the Forum, and together created the Fundamentals of Franchising, a signature program used to train novices about the intricacies of franchise law. They are co-editors of the book, Fundamentals of Franchising, which is in its Third Edition.

The Rudnick Award was created last year in remembrance of Lewis Rudnick, a founding member of the Forum and its second chair, who died in January 2009. He helped establish the Franchise Law Journal, the Forum’s quarterly publication. As senior partner of Rudnick & Wolfe (currently DLA Piper), he trained several generations of some of America’s leading franchise lawyers.

The Award is intended to honor those who have made substantial contributions to the Forum and to franchise law as a discipline, while comporting themselves in accordance with Lew Rudnick’s high standards of professionalism.

The inaugural Lewis G. Rudnick Award was presented to John R.F. Baer of Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale, P.C. at last year’s annual meeting.

Future Leaders Awards

In addition to the Rudnick Award, the Forum bestowed the 2010 Future Leader Awards to Dawn Newton of Fitzgerald Abbott & Beardsley LLP in Oakland, California and Jane Edmonds of Cassels Brock in Toronto.

Baer Receives First Rudnick Award for Contributions to Franchise Law

This posting was written by John W. Arden.

The ABA Forum on Franchising on October 15 presented the inaugural Lewis G. Rudnick Award to John R. F. Baer in recognition of his contributions to the development of the Forum and franchise law as a discipline. Baer is a partner in the Chicago office of Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal, LLP.

The “lifetime achievement award” was created in remembrance of Lewis Rudnick, who died on January 24, 2009, at age 73. Recognized by the Forum as “one of the true giants of the franchise bar,” Rudnick was a founder of the Forum and its second chair (1981-1983). He helped establish the Franchise Law Journal, the Forum’s quarterly publication. As senior partner of Rudnick & Wolfe (currently DLA Piper), Rudnick trained several generations of some of America’s leading franchise lawyers.

“Most important, Lew was a kind man and consummate gentleman, who treated everyone with respect and demonstrated the personal qualities to which all lawyers should aspire,” said Edward Wood Dunham, immediate past chair of the Forum, in announcing the creation of the award.

The Rudnick Award is intended to honor members of the Forum who, over the course of distinguished careers as franchise lawyers, have made substantial contributions to the development of the Forum and to franchise law as a discipline, while comporting themselves in accordance with Lew Rudnick's high standards of professionalism, decency, and collegiality.

In presenting the first Rudnick Award, new Forum Chair Ron Gardner cited Baer’s thousands of hours of work for the Forum as a frequent speaker, author of more than a dozen Franchise Law Journal articles, editor of the Franchise Lawyer newsletter, associate editor of the Franchise Law Journal, member of the governing committee, and publications officer.

He is the chair of the Illinois Attorney General’s Franchise Advisory Board and editor of the CCH Sales Representative Law Guide, Gardner said. In addition, Baer is currently Vice Chair of the International Franchising Committee of the International Bar Association’s International Sales, Franchising and Product Law Section and formerly vice president of the Franchising Committee of Union Internationale des Avocats.

Baer has mentored many leading franchise lawyers during his long career in the field—and did all these things “with a smile,” Gardner said.

The presentation occurred during the opening session of the main program of the 32nd annual meeting of the Forum on Franchising, held in Toronto on October 14-16.

Additional Awards

Gardner referred to three additional annual awards, intended to recognize franchise lawyers at earlier stages in their careers, to encourage young and/or diverse practitioners to become and remain involved in the Forum, and to help them identify pathways to Forum leadership.

Those three awards are: (1) Chair's Award for Substantial Written Work or Presentation; (2) Chair's Future Leader Award; and (3) Chair's Explorers Award.

These awards will be presented for the first time at next year’s annual meeting, to be held October 13-15, 2009, at The Hotel Del Coronado, Coronado, California.