FDD Items 3 & 4 · 2024 filing
Brown's Chicken litigation history
What Brown's Chicken disclosed about lawsuits, arbitrations and bankruptcy in the 2024 Franchise Disclosure Document. Item 3 lists the material legal actions a franchisor must report; Item 4 covers bankruptcy. This is the franchisor's own disclosure, not a court record, and not legal advice.
Items 3 (litigation) & 4 (bankruptcy) at a glance
What the filing discloses
- Cases disclosed
- 4
- Item 3, as counted in the filing
- Largest settlement, franchisor's own cases
- None stated
- Bankruptcy (Item 4)
- Disclosed
- Franchisor, parent, predecessor or officer
- Filing year
- 2024
- Disclosures cover the prior ten years
Extracted from the 2024 Franchise Disclosure Document
Item 3: litigation
4 concluded cases, all settled in April 2016 Global Settlement Agreement: (1) Joan Portillo v. Bonnie Kennefick and Brown's (franchisee dispute); (2) Brown's v. JOLI Inc./Life A.B. LLC (royalty nonpayment, trademark infringement); (3) Brown's v. Forty One Inc. and Joan Portillo (royalty nonpayment); (4) Brown's v. Highland Fling Inc. and Joan Portillo (royalty nonpayment, $185,142 default judgment)
Item 3 (litigation) · 4 matters disclosed
Litigation cases
The franchisor
Concluded (4)
Brown’s Chicken, LLC v. FORTY ONE, INC. and JOAN PORTILLO
settledBrought against a franchisee · filed 2014-06-10 · Circuit Court of the 18th Judicial Circuit, Illinois · 2014 AR 000939
“… Circuit Court of the 18th Judicial Circuit, Illinois, Case No. 2014 AR 000939, filed on June 10, 2014.”Page 13 of the 2024 FDD, Item 3
Joan Portillo v. Bonnie Kennefick and Brown’s Chicken, LLC
settledBrought by a franchisee · filed 2013-03-27 · Circuit Court of the 18th Judicial Circuit, Illinois · 2013 CH 1098
“… Circuit Court of the 18th Judicial Circuit, Illinois, Case No. 2013 CH 1098, filed on March 27, 2013.”Page 12 of the 2024 FDD, Item 3
Brown’s Chicken, LLC v. JOLI, INC., LIFE A.B., LLC, JUST TONI’s, Toni Portilllo, and Joan Portillo
settledBrought against a franchisee · filed 2011-05-06 · Circuit Court of the 18th Judicial Circuit, Illinois · 2011 CH002196
“… Circuit Court of the 18th Judicial Circuit, Illinois, Case No. 2011 CH002196, filed on May 6, 2011.”Page 12 of the 2024 FDD, Item 3
Brown’s Chicken, LLC v. THE HIGHLAND FLING, INC. and Joan Portillo
settledBrought against a franchisee · filed 2011-05-17 · Circuit Court of the 18th Judicial Circuit, Illinois · 2011L000554
“… Circuit Court of the 18th Judicial Circuit, Illinois, Case No. 2011L000554, filed on May 17, 2011.”Page 13 of the 2024 FDD, Item 3
Item 3 lists the litigation the franchisor must disclose; a matter against a parent, an affiliate or a named officer is not a matter against the franchisor, and pending claims are allegations, not findings.
Disclosed in the 2024 Franchise Disclosure Document
Item 4: bankruptcy
Predecessor BCP filed Chapter 11 on December 29, 2009 (Case #09-49094, N.D. Illinois). POPGRIP (another predecessor) purchased BCP assets via Section 363 sale on October 22, 2010. Brown's Chicken LLC itself has not filed bankruptcy.
Disclosure signals that moved the score
How this shows up in the verdict
- Four concluded litigations in 2016 involving breach of franchise agreements, non-payment disputes, and trademark issues — suggests systemic franchisor-franchisee conflict
The verdict grade is FranchiseVerdict's editorial assessment across SBA loan performance, unit growth, revenue and disclosure signals. It is not investment advice.
Before you weigh a lawsuit
How to read Item 3
A franchisor must disclose pending actions and any material civil action involving the franchise relationship, plus convictions or civil judgments for fraud, unfair or deceptive practices, or franchise-law violations, going back ten years. A case the franchisor brought against a franchisee counts too. Item 3 does not include every dispute: settled claims below the materiality line and matters resolved in private arbitration can be absent.
Questions worth asking current and former franchisees, using the contact list in Item 20:
- Were you, or anyone you know in the system, party to a dispute with the franchisor?
- Was it resolved by settlement, arbitration or a court, and on what terms?
- Has the number of disputes gone up or down since you signed?