Dres Chalfant, Attorney, Roda Chalfant Franchise Law
Drew is a member of the Cincinnati Bar Association, the American Bar Association, and the American Bar Association’s Forum on Franchising. When Drew is not hard at work protecting his client’s business interests, he enjoys spending time with his wife, their two daughters, and their dogs Archie and Bailey. Drew enjoys road cycling and fitness, culinary exploits with varying degrees of success, and he is known to sit back and strum an acoustic guitar from tiDrew is an experienced transactional attorney who is passionate about advising his clients with a “business-first” mentality. Drew’s practice focuses on holistic business and legal advising for his client’s various needs, including: franchising, licensing and distribution; small business and independent contractor representation; contract drafting, negotiation and review; intellectual property registration, management and enforcement, real estate transactions; mergers and acquisitions; and pre-litigation dispute resolution and counseling. Drew has advised numerous businesses inside and outside of the franchising sector by providing support to all facets of the business lifecycle from inception to private equity exit.
As a franchise law specialist, Drew’s franchising experience includes: franchise disclosure document and franchise agreement drafting; area development agreement drafting; state and federal franchise law compliance; brand acquisitions and joint ventures; franchisor private equity sales; pre-litigation franchise dispute resolution; franchise system maintenance and day-to-day oversight; retail lease reviews and negotiations; vendor contract drafting and negotiation; litigation support and discovery facilitation; franchise sales materials compliance auditing; and franchise system wind-up and dissolutions.
Drew co-founded Roda & Chalfant, LLC in 2020 and serves as a partner, attorney, and counselor to his clients. After graduating summa cum laude from the Salmon P. Chase College of Law, Drew quickly rose to the rank of General Counsel for the first-in-class franchise development firm, St. Gregory Development Group. Drew also served as in-house counsel for a number of franchise brands within the St. Gregory portfolio, including Shred415 Franchising, CycleBar Franchising, Fueled Collective Franchising, and LB Franchising. As General Counsel, Drew was responsible for all day-to-day legal issues that faced this multi-faceted organization, including intellectual property matters, contracts and transactional issues, real estate matters and commercial lease reviews and negotiations, employment and labor issues, franchise disclosure document and franchise agreement drafting, and general franchise regulatory compliance matters. Prior to co-founding Roda | Chalfant, Drew served as Vice President and Corporate Counsel to Ultimate Toys, a distributor of custom luxury Mercedes Sprinter vans, and as Corporate Counsel to Green Investment Holdings and its affiliates, a commercial and residential real estate holding company.
Drew prides himself on being a problem solver who delivers practical legal advice and risk management initiatives for his clients, without simply being the proverbial “you can’t do that” department. Drew understands that his clients face a variety of challenges as they scale their business, and that effective counseling in the face of regulatory hurdles and business issues is a paramount concern for the companies and individuals that he advises.
Drew is a member of the Cincinnati Bar Association, the American Bar Association, and the American Bar Association’s Forum on Franchising. When Drew is not hard at work protecting his client’s business interests, he enjoys spending time with his wife, their two daughters, and their dogs Archie and Bailey. Drew enjoys road cycling and fitness, culinary exploits with varying degrees of success, and he is known to sit back and strum an acoustic guitar from time to time when the mood strikes.
Guest appearances by Drew: