Interview with Adeny van Engel, franchise lawyer, mediator and coach at Van Engel Legal.
The topic of this podcast is the franchise lawyer. My guest is Adeny van Engel. Adeny has been a lawyer for 23 years, of which 10 years specialized in franchising. She recently opened her own office: Van Engel Legal (www.vanenlegal.nl).
Adeny represents both franchisors and franchisees. She finds it important to know what is going on with the other party. Franchise is a form of cooperation, if you only act for one party and you do not know what is going on on the other side, you get a compartmentalized view of things.
She often drafts franchise agreements for franchisors. In addition, she is also involved in adapting franchise agreements and litigating, for example, on complex matters such as forecasting issues.
In addition to being a franchise lawyer, Adeny also works as a mediator between business parties. A mediator is non-partisan and guides a conversation between two parties. A very different position than she has as a lawyer. A special combination, she admits. How does she see the future, which types of cases will she choose: mediation or the court? Adeny hopes for more mediation because she thinks it's great that parties talk to each other, find a solution together and eventually part ways shaking hands.
Adeny's tip to franchisors: when looking for franchisees, make sure you find out whether they really want to do business. After all, as a franchisee you are an entrepreneur and not an employee.