Kathy J. "Kat" Tidd

With over 28 years of experience in franchising and franchise laws in Texas and throughout the U.S, franchise attorney Kat Tidd focuses on providing practical, comprehensive, and personalized legal advice and solutions to her clients for their specific goals. She works with clients to understand not only the dynamics of the franchise business but also the interpersonal relationships that can drive the business.

Kat has worked in and with the franchise industry for more than 30 years, including before, during and after law school.

She currently advises franchisors and franchisees, dealers, and entrepreneurs in general and serves as a consultant to other attorneys on franchise and business opportunity matters. Her practice emphasizes franchise and transactional law, including franchise compliance, disclosure and franchise start-up related matters as well as dispute resolution.

Kat drafts Franchise Disclosure Documents (FDD) and franchise agreements for start up franchisors. She finds that also benefits clients who are thinking of buying a franchise. She will review FDDs critically and help prospective franchise buyers understand the pros and cons of signing the franchise agreement.

Kat Tidd served as vice president and general counsel of franchising, licensing and distribution companies before starting her own firm. She has negotiated and structured franchise and license arrangements at the U.S. and international levels, as well as working with both start-ups and mature franchise systems. Prior to establishing her own firm, Kat developed and managed legal departments for franchise companies in the Pacific Northwest and in Texas.

Kat has been an active member of the American Bar Association's Forum on Franchising for more than 28 years, has served on the Forum Nominating Committee, published in the Franchise Law Journal, been speaker on ethics at the annual meeting of the Forum on Franchising, the Dallas Bar Association, and on Continuing Legal Education programs, as well as a frequent speaker on the topic franchises and franchising in the DFW area as well as serving golf tournament chair for the Forum. She is also a member of the Texas State Bar and admitted but inactive in Oregon, past Chair of the Franchise Section of the Dallas Bar Association, and past co-chair of the International Business Committee of the North Dallas Chamber of Commerce. She obtained her B.A. from the Honors College, University of Oregon and her J.D. from University of Oregon Law School.