Does the notice clause in the Bevaris Alliance agreement apply to legal proceedings?
Bevaris_Alliance Franchise · 2024 FDDAnswer from 2024 FDD Document
27.8 Notices.
- (a) Any notice or other communication given to a party under or in connection with this agreement shall be in writing, addressed to that party at its registered office or such other address as that party may have specified to the other party in writing in accordance with this clause, and shall be delivered personally, or sent by pre-paid first class post or other next working day delivery service, commercial courier,.
- (b) A notice or other communication shall be deemed to have been received: if delivered personally, when left at the address referred to in clause 27.8(a); if sent by pre-paid first class post or other next working day delivery service, at 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time on the first Business Day after posting; if delivered by commercial courier, on the date and at the time that the courier's delivery receipt is signed; or, if sent by fax or e-mail, one Business Day after transmission.
- (c) This clause shall not apply to the service of any proceedings or other documents in any legal action, arbitration or other method of dispute resolution.
Source: Item 23 — RECEIPT (FDD pages 22–88)
What This Means (2024 FDD)
According to the 2024 Bevaris Alliance Franchise Disclosure Document, the standard notice clause outlined in the franchise agreement does not apply to legal proceedings. The FDD specifies that the standard methods of delivering notices, such as personal delivery, mail, courier, fax, or email, are not applicable when serving legal documents related to any legal action, arbitration, or other dispute resolution methods.
This means that if Bevaris Alliance or the franchisee needs to serve legal papers, they must follow the rules of service of process dictated by the relevant court or arbitration rules, rather than relying on the notice provisions in the franchise agreement. This is a standard practice, as legal proceedings often have very specific requirements for how documents must be delivered to be legally valid.
For a prospective Bevaris Alliance franchisee, this distinction is important to understand. If a dispute arises that leads to legal action, they need to be aware that the standard notice methods outlined in the franchise agreement cannot be used for serving legal documents. Instead, they must adhere to the legal requirements for service of process, which may involve hiring a professional process server or following specific court procedures.