Ritchie founded and leads the firm’s franchise practice where for 20 years he has served as the primary franchise counsel to hundreds of franchisors, franchisees, and dealer networks in their franchise and business matters. He has decades of experience helping domestic and international franchisors design and grow their franchise systems with innovative, but compliant, franchise disclosure documents, franchise agreements, area development agreements, and master franchise agreements.  Ritchie’s clients benefit from his wealth of experience representing both sector leading franchisors as well as innovating emerging concepts.  He has substantial experience representing franchise systems operating in the hospitality, restaurant, retail, and home services industries.

As the leader of the largest franchise law practice in the Carolinas, Ritchie represents franchisor clients as their strategic advisor through all phases of growing and protecting their brand including franchise compliance, advertising fund administration, and state enforcement actions.

Ritchie guides franchise clients through mission-critical transactions including equity and debt transactions as well as mergers and acquisitions. He has served as the member of deal teams conducting merger, acquisition, and joint venture transactions in almost all 50 states and internationally, with aggregate transaction value exceeding $3 billion.  Private equity funds retain him to both advise them on franchise due diligence during a transaction and to represent their franchisor portfolio companies post-transaction.

Ritchie is a recognized thought leader in franchising across the Carolinas and nationally. He supports franchising through his active involvement in the International Franchise Association (“IFA”) as a long-time member of the IFA Membership and Legal/Legislative Committees. Ritchie also serves on the IFA Supplier Forum’s Board of Directors and as a member of the IFA’s Emerging Franchisor Task Force. Additionally, he is the first North Carolina attorney to receive the Certified Franchise Executive (“CFE”) designation awarded by the Institute of Certified Franchise Executives (“ICFE”). For the last 6 years, Ritchie served on the ICFE’s Board of Governors, which develops the CFE curriculum as the premier training program for franchise executives.

He is a member of the North Carolina Bar Association Business Law Section Council and is the founding chair of the North Carolina Bar Association Committee on Franchising. For the last decade, Ritchie has been the course planner and taught continuing education programs on franchise law for other North Carolina attorneys.  Ritchie’s peers chose him as the first North Carolina attorney ever listed in both Super Lawyers and The Best Lawyers in America for his work in franchise law.