In Guesthouse Int’l Franchise Sys., Inc. v. British Am. Properties, 2009 WL 792570 (M.D. Tenn. Mar. 23, 2009), a Tennessee federal court awarded franchisor Sumner Ventures, Inc. (formerly Guesthouse International) $82,651.95 in attorneys’ fees and costs as well as damages in the amount of $358,708.28 on its claims that the franchisee had breached the parties’ hotel franchise. As reported in Issue No. 116 of The GPMemorandum, the court granted in part the franchisor’s motion for summary judgment on its claims that the franchisee had breached the agreement in failing to comply with its standards. The franchisee had filed counterclaims alleging that the franchisor had fraudulently induced it into entering into the parties’ agreement and had failed to deliver a UFOC, but the court denied those counterclaims finding they were barred under the one-year statute of limitations period of the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act. In awarding fees and costs, the court denied the franchisee’s motion for reconsideration of the court’s prior decision on summary judgment. It also found that the franchisor’s fees and costs were reasonable given the amount of work performed in the case and extensive briefing on various motions.
The Franchise Memorandum