Which state's laws govern the Bigfoot Forestry Agreement?

According to Bigfoot Forestry's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, the Franchise Agreement is generally governed by the laws of South Carolina. Specifically, section 24.1 states that the laws of South Carolina will govern the agreement and the franchise relationship, without regard to its principles of conflicts of law. However, this is subject to the exception that any South Carolina law regulating the offer and sale of franchises or the franchisor-franchisee relationship will not apply unless its jurisdictional requirements are met independently.

This means that, in most situations, South Carolina law will be used to interpret and enforce the Bigfoot Forestry Franchise Agreement. However, if a particular legal issue falls under franchise-specific regulations in South Carolina, those regulations will only apply if the situation meets the requirements for South Carolina to have jurisdiction, regardless of this clause in the agreement. This ensures that franchisees are not unintentionally subjected to specific South Carolina franchise laws simply by virtue of this clause.

It is important to note that the United States Trademark Act of 1946 (Lanham Act) takes precedence over state law regarding trademark issues. Additionally, the FDD includes state-specific addenda for certain states like California, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, North Dakota, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin, which may modify the agreement to comply with those states' laws. Franchisees in these states should carefully review the addenda to understand how the agreement is modified in their specific jurisdiction.