If a provision of the Healthsource Chiropractic Acknowledgement is held invalid, what happens to the other provisions?
Healthsource_Chiropractic Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
- 17.18 Independent Provisions. The provisions of this Agreement are deemed to be severable. In other words, the parties agree that each provision of this Agreement will be construed as independent of any other provision of this Agreement.
Source: Item 23 — Receipts (FDD pages 77–282)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to Healthsource Chiropractic's 2025 Franchise Disclosure Document, the provisions of the franchise agreement are considered severable. This means that if one part of the agreement is found to be invalid or unenforceable, the remaining parts of the agreement will still be in effect.
This "severability" clause is a common legal protection in franchise agreements. It protects Healthsource Chiropractic by ensuring that the entire agreement is not thrown out due to a problem with one particular clause. For a franchisee, this means they can't get out of the entire agreement just because one small part of it is deemed unenforceable.
However, it's important to understand how this works in practice. If a key provision related to fees or operational requirements is struck down, it could still significantly impact the franchisee's business. Franchisees should seek legal counsel to understand the implications of each clause and how severability might affect their rights and obligations.