Seyfarth’s Boston Litigation Team Secures Trial Win In Re/Max Franchise Dispute

BOSTON (April 23, 2020) – Seyfarth successfully secured a complete bench trial win for Real Estate Visionaries, Inc. d/b/a Leading Edge (“Leading Edge”) in a franchise agreement and unfair business practices dispute with RE/MAX of New England, Inc. (“RE/MAX”).

In June 2018, Real Estate Visionaries, Inc. d/b/a Leading Edge (“Leading Edge”), then a RE/MAX franchisee with multiple locations on the Massachusetts north shore, filed suit in Middlesex Superior Court seeking a declaration that it could operate as a RE/MAX franchisee at all of its locations until the last of its RE/MAX franchise agreements expired in December 2019. RE/MAX of New England, Inc. (“RE/MAX”) retaliated by recruiting neighboring RE/MAX franchisees to target Leading Edge and attempt to recruit its sales agents, even at locations still operating under RE/MAX franchise agreements. On July 3, 2018, the owners of Leading Edge concluded that they had no choice but to debrand immediately at all of their locations and operate as an independent real estate broker; RE/MAX responded by seeking a preliminary injunction to shut down Leading Edge. The court denied RE/MAX’s motion but ordered an expedited trial on the merits.

After a seven day bench trial in March 2019, where Seyfarth’s Boston attorneys represented Leading Edge, the court issued a 71 page decision on Friday, April 17, 2020, finding that RE/MAX had breached its franchise agreements with Leading Edge and had engaged in unfair business practices in violation of Mass. Gen. Laws c. 93A. In its decision, the court found that “once Re/Max set out to destroy Leading Edge’s unexpired, in-term franchises, the entirety of Re/Max’s course of conduct . . . crossed the line from acceptable contract practices and hard bargaining to impermissibly restraining or avoiding competition.” The court awarded Leading Edge its attorneys’ fees and $22,500 in damages.

The Seyfarth Litigation team was led by Boston partners Brandon Bigelow and Alison Eggers and included senior counsel Lisa Kirby Haines.