Franchising Expert Witnesses

Greenwich, Connecticut

Hotel & Restaurant, Hotel & Restaurant - hotel operations, lost profits, business interruption damages, personal injury, wrongful death, standard of care, asset management, management agreements, franchising, premises liability, hotel real estate, sexual assault, development, hotel finance

Kenneth Free, Straightline’s Principal, can oftentimes be an excellent hospitality expert witness. Over the years he has served as an expert witness before judicial bodies in about two-thirds of the 50-states of the USA, as well as in many U.S. Federal Courts. He has also been engaged as an expert in Canada, France, Egypt, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and British West Indies. While typically appearing before civil courts of the state, he has also served in cases before bodies of arbitration, U.S. Federal Administrative courts, U.S. Bankruptcy courts, the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (a World Bank entity), and a Native American Tribal Court. Mr. Free can be a solid expert witness for hotel disputes because of his deep real world experience working in the hotel industry, his academic credentials, and his demeanor of credibility. Mr. Free is a true expert in hotels, resorts and related hospitality businesses. Prior to establish...

Ponte Vedra, Florida

Oil and Gas, Business Operations - Convenience Stores, Retail, Franchising, Mystery Shopping, Retail Gas/Motor Fuel Operations, Customer Service, Contracting, Merchandising, Category Management, Operations Management, Food Safety, Age-restricted

Mr. Ritenour is a veteran of Convenience Store and Retail Petroleum Industry since 1973. Additionally, he is a testifying witness with experience drafting expert reports, research and providing testimony for c-store, franchise and retail petroleum motor fuel litigation. Russ’ knowledge and over forty years of experience effectively managing cross-functional domestic and global teams, programs, and processes at large corporations in both the retail petroleum and convenience retailing industry allow him to create expert reports and work with a litigation team. Russ’ expert experience, comprehensive knowledge and highly diversified career in the convenience store and retail petroleum industry includes corporate operations, management and leadership roles at many levels within the industries. His expertise includes, corporate operational management, franchising and franchise management, category management, food safety, customer and consumer experience management, mystery shopping, sur...

Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin

Automotive, Franchising - Network Development, Incentives, Network Planning, Allocation, Terminations, Framework Agreements, Facilities, Dealer Contract, OEM Programs, Right of First Refusal, Dealer Performance, Automotive Retail, Dealer Contract, Dealer Development, Automotive Financing

With over three decades of senior leadership experience in the automotive industry, Tassos Panas is an experienced expert witness specializing in dealer–OEM disputes, dealership operations, and performance management. Having held numerous executive roles with major automotive manufacturers, he brings a unique dual-perspective understanding of both OEM strategy and dealer network realities. His work has consistently focused on aligning dealer network operations and corporate objectives to drive measurable business outcomes while maintaining compliance with franchise frameworks, regulatory requirements and industry standards. Mr. Panas provides clear, data-driven analysis and testimony in matters involving vehicle allocation, dealer performance, facility requirements, incentive programs, buy-sell disputes, dealer contracts, framework agreements, terminations, right of first refusal (ROFR), and network strategy. His ability to translate highly technical retail automotive and operation...