Under the Bigfoot Forestry agreement, can any section of the agreement be considered independently?
Bigfoot_Forestry Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
- **24.3.
Severability**.
Each section of this Agreement (and portion thereof) is severable.
If applicable Law imposes mandatory terms that conflict with this Agreement, the terms required by such Law shall govern to the extent of the inconsistency.
If a court or arbitrator concludes any promise or covenant in this Agreement is unreasonable or unenforceable, we or the court or arbitrator may modify such promise or covenant to the minimum extent necessary to make it enforceable.
Source: Item 23 — RECEIPT (FDD pages 42–162)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to the 2025 Bigfoot Forestry Franchise Disclosure Document, each section of the agreement is considered severable. This means that if a court finds one part of the agreement to be unenforceable, the rest of the agreement will still remain in effect. This is a fairly standard clause in franchise agreements.
The agreement also specifies that if any applicable law imposes mandatory terms that conflict with the agreement, the terms required by law will take precedence to the extent of the inconsistency. This protects the franchisee from being held to a term in the agreement that violates the law.
Furthermore, if a court or arbitrator determines that any promise or covenant within the agreement is unreasonable or unenforceable, Bigfoot Forestry or the court/arbitrator has the right to modify the promise or covenant to the minimum extent necessary to make it enforceable. This ensures that the agreement remains as close as possible to the original intent of both parties while still complying with legal requirements.