Retail Automotive Dealers

Overview

For more than half a century, Parker Poe has helped automotive dealerships with all of their legal needs. We represent publicly traded, private equity-sponsored, and privately held dealerships of all sizes – from small, local groups to large corporations with a national footprint, including franchised and independent dealerships.

Our Retail Automotive Dealer Team understands the unique legal challenges that dealers face, and our experience allows us to serve as business partners, anticipating needs and efficiently solving problems. Parker Poe has the depth to provide every type of legal service that a dealership requires, including:

Automotive lending, including floor plan financing
Buy/sell arrangements and acquisitions
Capital funding and raising equity
Contract negotiations
Criminal investigations
Employee benefits (ERISA) and executive compensation
Employment, including EEOC discrimination and harassment claims, U.S. Labor Department wage and hour claims, and OSHA safety and health claims
Environmental and health and safety
Litigation and arbitration, including consumer disputes
Lobbying
Real estate and leasing, including site evaluations, contract negotiations, title examinations, and closings
State and federal regulatory compliance
Securities
Software and technology contracts
Succession planning and other contractual agreements between owners, including shareholder agreements
Tax, including federal, state, and local
Trademarks, copyrights, and other intellectual property

Representative Experience

Served as counsel to NYSE-listed automotive retailer in more than 200 transactions involving the purchase and sale of automotive dealerships.
Served as counsel to private equity fund in its acquisition of a majority interest in an automotive group operating nine automobile dealerships in western Pennsylvania.
Served as tax counsel to Fortune 500 automobile dealer for federal and state tax advice, including providing tax opinions for multiple restructuring transactions.
Represented national chain of car dealers defending against claims of alleged infringement of two patents for tire hanging devices used with automotive lifts. We negotiated a confidential settlement.
Helped dealerships and their parent companies develop brands from scratch and protect their intellectual property rights, including an innovative used car dealership group in the western U.S.
Served as counsel for NYSE-listed automotive retailer in obtaining a permanent injunction prevent a competing automobile retailer from continuing to infringe our client’s trademarks, and being awarded the attorneys’ fees and costs associated with bringing the action.
Served as counsel for NYSE-listed automotive retailer in obtaining a consent judgment against an automobile retailer that was infringing our client’s trademarks.
Obtained transfer of domain name incorporating automotive clients’ trademarks in multiple cases before the National Arbitration Forum.
Advised one of the country’s largest automotive retailers for nearly two decades on information technology licensing and data security. Our team also provides counsel in this area to information technology service providers in the automotive retail industry.
Obtained a complete defense verdict in an action for breach of a motor vehicle purchase contract and unfair and deceptive trade practices.
Represented a public auto dealer in almost 50 real property acquisitions, leases, and dispositions stretching from California across the southern half of the U.S. to Washington, D.C.