Douglas M. Brooks, Advisor

DOUGLAS M. BROOKS is a partner in the firm of Martland & Brooks, LLP. One of his primary areas of specialization is the representation of franchisees, dealers and distributors, including the trial, arbitration and mediation of business disputes with franchisors and manufacturers. Mr. Brooks is Of Counsel to the firm of Gilman and Pastor, also based in Saugus, Massachusetts. Gilman and Pastor specializes in class action litigation involving securities, antitrust, consumer protection and defective products.

Mr. Brooks is a 1982 graduate of Suffolk University Law School (J.D.) and received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Northwestern University in 1979. He was a Note Editor for the Suffolk University Transnational Law Journal for 1981-1982. He is a member of the bar for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, and has been admitted to practice in many courts across the country. He is a member of the Massachusetts Bar Association, the Forum Committee on Franchising of the American Bar Association, the American Trial Lawyers Associations (member, Mandatory Arbitration Committee) and the American Association of Franchisees & Dealers (AAFD) LegaLine Committee.

Mr. Brooks has been a frequent speaker at the annual conventions of the American Association of Franchisees and Dealers and the American Franchisee Association. He was a speaker at the 1995 Annual Forum on Franchising of the American Bar Association, where he delivered a paper entitled "Survey Evidence - Use of Collected Data in Encroachment Cases."

Representative franchising and distribution cases handled by Mr. Brooks include the following:

Anna Oganesov and ORG Products v. GNC Franchising, Inc. , Court of Common Pleas, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. (In March, 2000, after a four-day trial, Mr. Brooks obtained a verdict of $507,680. on behalf of a franchisee who claimed that her franchisor was encroaching on her protected sales territory.

Capone v. Nu Skin Canada, Inc. , Case No. 93-C-258 S (D.Utah). Mr. Brooks has been prosecuting this action on behalf of Canadian distributors of multi-level marketing company; the class was certified over intense opposition, after the court denied defendants' motion for summary judgment on all counts; trial is anticipated early in 2001.

Webster v. Omnitrition International, Inc. , 79 F.3d 776 (9th Cir. 1996) Mr. Brooks was one of the court-appointed class counsel in this action on behalf of distributors in a multi-level marketing company asserting claims under the federal securities laws and the federal Racketeer-Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) statute; in a landmark ruling the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed the district court's grant of summary judgment against the class.

Ford Motor Credit Corp. v. Thomas A. Gassett, et als , Civil Action No. 352/1990 (D.V.I.,St. Thomas and St. Johns Div.) Mr. Brooks defended a multi-line automobile dealer in complex litigation arising out of the collapse of the then largest automobile leasing operations in the United States Virgin Islands.

Rhodes v. Consumer Buyline, Inc. , 868 F.Supp. 368 (D.Mass. 1993) Mr. Brooks represented the plaintiff in this class action on behalf of distributors in multi-level marketing company; obtained significant ruling that arbitration clause in distributor contract was unenforceable because contracts to participate in pyramid schemes violate public policy.

Scheck v. Burger King , 756 F.Supp. 543 (S.D.Fla. 1991); upheld on reconsideration , 798F.Supp. 692 (S.D.Fla. 1992) Mr. Brooks represented the plaintiff franchisee in this case, which has attracted national attention in the franchising industry. In two landmark rulings, Judge Hoeveler, of the Southern District of Florida, upheld the plaintiff franchisee's claim for protection against market encroachment by the franchisor, premised on the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. The Scheck litigation was settled in 1995 for approximately $4,000,000.

Mr. Brooks has represented franchisees, dealers and distributors in the following systems,among others: Advantage Payroll Services; American Fluid Technologies; Avis; Benetton; Burger King; Carpeteria; Carvel; Consumers' Buyline; Convenient Food Marts; Dairy Mart; Dairy Queen; Detroit Diesel; Dunkin' Donuts; Entre Computer Systems; Ford Motor Co.;Freightliner; General Motors (all lines); General Nutrition Centers; Hair Club for Men; Hardee's; Howard Johnson's; Huntington Learning Centers; Knapp Shoes; Kohler; Matol Botanical International; Melaleuca; McDonald's Corporation; Miami Subs; Mercedes Benz; Midas; Nutri-System; Nu Skin International; Omnitrition International; Physician's Weight Loss Centers; Rexall Showcase International; Smartfoods; Snap-On Tools; Snelling and Snelling; Sonny's Real Pit Barbeque; Steve's Homemade Ice Cream; TCBY; The Maids International; Together, Inc.; Toyota Motor Distributors; Volvo North America; Wise Potato Chips (Borden).

Mr. Brooks has also been actively involved in litigation on behalf of defrauded investors, purchasers of deceptive "vanishing premium" life insurance policies, business persons and consumers injured by antitrust conspiracies and other unfair trade practices, and owners of homes and buildings damaged by defective building products.

Attorney, Gilman and Pastor
60 State Street, 37th Floor
Boston, MA 02109
tel 781 231 7850
fax 781 231 7840
Dmbrooks@gilmanpastor.com