30 years ago, in January of 1991, Doris Carter and Christine Tani took a brave leap of faith and formed Carter & Tani. We decided that the western suburbs of Chicago needed a franchise law firm. Although still young lawyers at the time, we had a combined 20 years of experience working in house for a national franchise company which was relocating out of state.
We rented a 3-room office suite on Roosevelt Road in Wheaton, Illinois, and we purchased desktop computers, a telephone system, and a fax machine. Learning how to use technology was a huge challenge for us, but it was absolutely necessary to be able to survive and to succeed. We started with no support staff, which meant we answered the phone, made runs to the post office and bank, and even did our own office cleaning.
Our goal was to concentrate our practice on franchise and business law, but in the beginning we needed to take almost all cases that came our way – divorce, litigation, real estate, estate planning, probate, and even a couple of criminal cases. Eventually we built our franchise and business law practice, and are happy that we were able to focus our practice in those areas that we find most interesting and challenging.
Over the years, we hired a secretary, expanded our office space, and brought on our two associates, first Alissa, and most recently, Ben. We now occupy the entire first floor of the same building on Roosevelt Road that we started in.
We are so grateful that we have been able to establish Carter & Tani as a national franchise law firm, representing franchisor, subfranchisor and franchisee clients locally and around the country. We enjoy our relationships with our clients, many of whom are long-term, and some going back to our earliest years.
Doris and Christine agree that those 30 years have passed by so quickly and with hardly a setback. And, if we had to do it again, there is no doubt we would. We look forward to the firm we established continuing for many years to come.
If you have any questions regarding franchise or business law matters, contact Carter & Tani Attorneys at Law to speak with a franchise attorney today.