Background & Experience
John Tifford has counseled clients about a wide range of product and service distribution issues, such as creating franchised and non-franchised programs; formulating and implementing strategies addressing the offer of distribution relationships to prospective franchisees and licensees and, thereafter, the ongoing relationships with them; defending against federal and state regulatory investigations and enforcement actions; and participating in formal alternative dispute resolution proceedings, such as mediation.
He has also been engaged to serve as an expert witness in various private lawsuits.
Mr. Tifford has testified as a franchise expert before Congress and state legislatures; participated as a panelist in several Federal Trade Commission public forums on consumer protection issues; served on several committees of the International Franchise Association, including its Legal and Legislative Committee and Educational Foundation; and written and spoken extensively on issues relating to franchising, advertising, and other consumer protection matters. He is listed in The Best Lawyers in America and Who’s Who in America, and has been named as a “Legal Eagle” by Franchise Times.
Before entering private practice in 1988, Mr. Tifford served with the Federal Trade Commission, where, from 1978-1988, he was in charge of the FTC’s Franchise Rule Program, including the launch of the Franchise Rule and oversight of the FTC’s enforcement and compliance advice activities. Before then, Mr. Tifford served in a similar capacity with respect to the FTC’s Land Sales Program.
Speeches and Presentations (as presenter, moderator, or co-presenter)
2005 FTC Franchise Rule and IFA-FTC Franchise Sales Compliance
International Franchise Association
Washington, D.C. | September 2005
Selling Franchises Without Getting Into Trouble: A Regulator’s Perspective
International Franchise Expo
Washington, D.C. | April 2005
Recent Developments in the United States Affecting Franchising
Ontario Bar Association
Toronto | October 2004
Defending Civil Enforcement Actions by the FTC or the State
International Franchise Association’s 37th Annual Legal Symposium
Washington, D.C. | May 2004