Legal Question in Business Law in Florida

I bought the distribution rights for most of Florida to sell and market a new range of small power boats,, the key to success here was a Harley davidson powered boat,, we did masses of homework and research and found that the potential is massive, just selling to one sixteenth of one percent of the people in my territory would have been hugely successful..I took delivery of my first 3 demo boats, they are a mess, i had them inspected by a marine architect who confirmed the state of the boats,, i find out the Harley Powered boat is no where near ready for market and may never be, all contrary to what i was told and what I saw when i visited the factory. I have spoken to other dealers in other states seems like we were all lied to and have faulty boats. The owner of the company has had many differant businesses all of which he franchised and sold,, this one now was established earlier this year,a lot of territories have been sold , a lot of people lost money and is already up for sale.We have lost in excess of 100k, we have nothing to sell.. do we have recourse for getting our money back, damage, loss of profits, and loss of expectational losses, we know this would have been a huge success ,, even the owner of the business claims a profit of 30 million in 5 years on his business sale listing.. Thank You


Asked on 10/15/09, 11:03 pm

4 Answers from Attorneys

Robert Roemer Robert Roemer

It sounds like you might have a class action lawsuit against the Harley Davidson Company.I would need to know the exact facts to review your claim. You can call me or w-mail me to discuss.

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Answered on 10/16/09, 12:15 am
Alan Wagner Wagner, McLaughlin & Whittemore P.A.

A class action would not be the way to go, in my judgment. You would not be suing Dow Chemical or a huge defendant. The guy you want to sue may not have a lot and you don't want your recovery diluted among others. Also, Fraud is not typically available as a class action. It is an individual tort that depends on the facts of each representation and what the receipient did with it. Loss of future profits is all but impossible to recover under the facts you provide, but certainly your investment and losses can be claimed.

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Answered on 10/16/09, 6:43 am
Sarah Grosse Sarah Grosse, Esquire

Call me inexperienced or ignorant, but I would go after the manufacturer individually. Every man for himself.

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Answered on 10/17/09, 12:02 am
Steven Meyer CPLS, P.A.

A franchisor must comply with many federal and state requirements. If the franchisor did not comply in your case, then you may have a right to rescind your arrangement with him and get your investment back. Even if they did comply with all of the paperwork requirements, you may have other claims for fraud, breach of contract or other claims. We have represented franchisees in other cases who got into a bad situation. We offer a free initial consultation and would be happy to speak to you about the situation.

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Answered on 11/05/09, 12:03 am


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