Michael Hankes is a trial attorney who has been representing franchisees for over sixteen years. Michael has successfully tried cases in jury, non-jury and arbitration forums. The trial matters handled are often complex, involving issues such as franchising, distribution of goods and services, contracts, business torts, restrictive covenants, trade secrets, unfair competition and unfair trade practices. He has also served as a commercial arbitrator before the American Arbitration Association.

In 1995, Michael began his current eight year tenure as a charter member of the Fair Standards Committee sponsored by the American Association of Franchisees and Dealers (AAF&D). The Fair Standards were intended to be an expression of what a fair franchise contract should contain. The focus of the Fair Standards Committee, made up of franchisees, franchisors and attorneys representing both groups was on leveling the playing field. Franchise agreements were one sided documents drafted by franchisors that were continuing to become more and more onerous.

Michael was the primary draftsman of the standards relating to dispute resolution and remains one of a handful of the original members of the Fair Standards Committee. His commentary on the importance of the Fair Standards delivered in a presentation to the AAF&D's June 2002 annual convention in Chicago appears in the articles section of this website. The AAF&D's Fair Standards were published in CCH's Business Franchise Guide in 2002 and continue to be a work in progress.

Born in Bay Shore, New York on July 8, 1952, L. Michael grew up in Suffolk County, Long Island. He attended Oberlin College in Oberlin, Ohio, where he developed a life long interest in the sports of ice hockey and lacrosse. L. Michael graduated with a B.A. in Government in 1974. Following his marriage to his wife, Connie, the pair moved to Terre Haute, Indiana, where Michael completed his Master of Science Degree in Criminology in 1976. After completing more than four years of service as a Certified Probation Officer assigned to the juvenile division of the Vigo County Circuit Court, Michael moved his young family to Springfield, Massachusetts to begin his legal studies at Western New England College School of Law. During 1981-1982, his final year of law school, Michael was selected as a Leopold Schepp Foundation Scholar. He received his law degree from Western New England in 1982.

Michael was admitted to the Massachusetts and New Hampshire Bars in 1982 and 1983 respectively and spent a year as a law clerk to the Presiding Justices of the New Hampshire Superior Court sitting in Manchester before entering the private practice of law. He was admitted to the following federal courts in the years indicated: 1983, United States District Courts for the Districts of Massachusetts and New Hampshire; 1984, Court of Appeals for the First Circuit; 1986, Supreme Court of the United States; 2000, United States District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Arkansas and the Eastern District of Wisconsin.

As a frequent lecturer for the AAF&D, Michael has appeared on the dias at the AAF&D's legal symposiums held during its annual conventions in Las Vegas in 1999, San Diego in 2000 and Chicago in 2002. He has received two of the AAF&D's chairman's awards: the first from the Meineke Dealers in 2000 and the second in 2002.

As the father of three grown children, Mike was also active as a director in the Braintree Youth Hockey Program and as a coach in the St. Moritz Youth Hockey Program. Mike still plays both the sports of ice hockey and lacrosse and is not only a fixture at the annual Oberlin College alumni lacrosse game, but is a member of the South Coastal Men's Hockey League's Hall of Fame.

The content on this website is intended for informational purposes and does not constitute individual legal advice. You should obtain the advice of an attorney regarding your own individual legal problems.