Dedication and preface

• Author: Frank Zaid
• Profession: Senior Partner Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP
• Pages: 19-21

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DEDICATION

AND PREFACE

Dedication

To my loving wife, Linda Lester, and my two wonderful ch ildren, Irwin

and Jonathan.

Preface

When I was called to the Ontario Bar in 1973, and commenced my legal

career in corp orate/ comm ercial and intellectu al propert y law, the words

“franchising” and “franchise” meant hardly anything to me. In fact, if

the term “franchi se” was ever used in a legal context at that time, it either

meant a right to transport natural gas or a right to own a major league

sports team. There was v irtually no literature on the subject of franchise

law in Canada and hardly any law f‌irms were involved in the practice.

Early in my career, I was asked to advise two franchise companies

coming to Canada from the United States. Only because of my intel-

lectual property background was I thought to be the appropriate can-

didate to take on these projects (or, truthfully, the fact was that no one

else at my f‌irm knew anything about franchising). From that time on,

a completely unpredictable turn of events took place which resulted in

an uncharted career path for me and many others with whom I have

worked over the years since then.

Since I f‌irst became involved in franchise law, I have seen and ex-

perienced, f‌irsthand, the development of franchise law as a unique and

distinct legal practice and have worked with and been privileged to

advise some of the most incredible franchise entrepreneurs in Canada,