Holdover Franchisees - Protecting the Brand When the Relationship is Over

Jeff Karlin is a Director & Legal Counsel for Dunkin’ Brands, Inc., the parent company of the Dunkin’ Donuts and Baskin-Robbins brands, with a focus on litigation issues.

Prior to joining Dunkin’ in 2015, he was a shareholder with Gray Plant Mooty in the firm’s Washington, DC office. Jeff started his career as a Trial Attorney with the Civil Division of the United States Department of Justice, where he defended cases brought under the Federal Tort Claims Act. He is the co-author of “Ongoing Operations Considerations,” which appeared in Collateral Issues in Franchising: Beyond Registration and Disclosure (ABA Forum on Franchising, Kenneth B. Costello, ed., February 2014) and “You Want Me to Sign What?: Permissible Changes to the Franchise Agreement Upon Renewal,” (46th Annual IFA Legal Symposium, Washington, D.C., May 2013). Jeff’s article, “Burning Your Bottom Line: How to Protect Your Business From the Looming Danger of Hot-Coffee Spills,” was published in the July 2013 edition of Fresh Cup magazine.

In January 2017, Jeff participated as a panelist at the IFA Annual Convention on the subject of franchise system standards enforcement. In January 2013, he received the Lexology Client Choice Award in Franchising for both the United States and District of Columbia.

Carmen Caruso serves as lead trial counsel in high stakes, high profile cases in Illinois and across the U.S. In over 35 years of practice, Carmen has honed a tough, no nonsense approach enabling Carmen D. Caruso Law Firm to engage in legal combat against many of the world’s largest law firms for clients large and small.
Carmen is one of the best trial lawyers in the dynamic franchise and dealership field. His cases have expanded legal protections for franchisees and dealers against anticompetitive, abusive, and bad faith conduct. He is one of very few trial lawyers named to the exclusive Franchise Times Legal Eagles Hall of Fame and he is consistently named one of the “Best Lawyers in America” among many other honors. Franchisees and dealers from coast to coast call Carmen every week and he has represented clients from almost every state and many foreign countries. He is the former general counsel for the National Owners Association of McDonald’s franchisees, one of the world’s largest franchises.
Carmen thrives in challenging cases confronting serious misconduct. He was victorious in the United States Court of Appeals striking a blow against glass ceiling discrimination against women in c-suites and was part of a New York City trial team that recovered substantial money from Fox News, the late Roger Ailes and Bill O’Reilly for sexual harassment and retaliation against a female Fox News Reporter. He has fought to expand the protection of minority franchises under federal civil rights laws and to protect underserved communities from racial steering. He forced a Monsanto subsidiary to clean up its PCB contamination in the Milwaukee River in Wisconsin and forced the U.S. Customs Service to return property wrongfully seized from U.S. citizens traveling abroad. He has recovered millions of dollars for clients and won trials ranging from a recent victory for a terminated equipment dealer to the acquittal of the grandson of a Chicago alderman in a state court murder trial. He has taken on powerful interests including a former Illinois governor.
Carmen is frequently called when clients have reason to question whether other lawyers have been unethical or incompetent. He represents aggrieved clients or defends other lawyers in legal malpractice cases, fee disputes, sanctions litigation, and in proceedings before the Illinois Attorney Regulation and Disciplinary Commission (ARDC), and he has handled many similar cases in medical fields.
Prior to creating his own firm, Carmen was privileged to be a partner in two of Chicago’s premier firms and he continues to work with leading lawyers in Chicago and across the country.
Carmen holds a Juris Doctor degree from the Loyola University of Chicago School of Law, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from Marquette University. He also successfully completed the Master Advocates program at the National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA). Carmen is a member of the American Association for Justice, the American Bar Association, Federal Bar Association, and the Illinois State Bar Association. He is admitted to practice in the United States Supreme Court, the United States Court of Military Appeals and many other courts.