FDD Items 3 & 4 · 2024 filing
LA Crawfish litigation history
What LA Crawfish 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
- 2
- Item 3, as counted in the filing
- Largest settlement, franchisor's own cases
- $20K
- As stated in Item 3
- Bankruptcy (Item 4)
- None
- Franchisor, parent, predecessor or officer
- Filing year
- 2024
- Disclosures cover the prior ten years
Extracted from the 2024 Franchise Disclosure Document
Item 3: litigation
Case 1 (2019-18558): 2SuceedInvestments, LLC v. LAC Franchising, LLC & Minson Ngo filed March 13, 2019 in Harris County District Court. Plaintiffs alleged improper use of System Ad Fund and self-dealing; sought declaratory judgment on unauthorized vendors. LAC filed counterclaims for breach of contract, royalty violations, unauthorized vendors/products, unauthorized POS systems, non-compete violations, misrepresentation, and trade secret misappropriation. October 31, 2021 partial summary judgment granted in LAC's favor. Counterclaims proceeded to trial June 5, 2023 with court ruling in LAC's favor; judgment collection pending. Case 2 (2019-26235): 3XL Crawfish, LLC v. LAC Franchising, LLC, Minson Ngo, Luc Hoang, Boyd's Seafood Inc., Jason Cogburn filed April 12, 2019 in Harris County District Court. Plaintiff (former vendor co-owned by Minson Ngo until March 2019) alleged unlawful interference and breach of contract. Case resolved via court-ordered mediation with LAC Franchising and Minson Ngo paying 3XL $20,000; case dismissed with prejudice, no admission of fault.
Item 3 (litigation) · 2 matters disclosed
Litigation cases
The franchisor
Concluded (2)
2SucceedInvestments, LLC vs. LAC Franchising, LLC & Minson Ngo
judgmentBrought by a franchisee · filed 2019-03-13 · Harris County District Court · 2019-18558
“On March 13, 2019, Mr. The Dao, Ms. Thach Pham and 2SuceedInvestments, LLC filed a lawsuit against Us and Managing Member Minson Ngo in Harris County District Court (2019-18558, Harris County District Court, 2SucceedInvestments, LLC vs. LAC Franchising, LLC & Minson Ngo).”Page 11 of the 2024 FDD, Item 3
Outcome: “The Court ruled in our favor, and we are seeking to collect on the judgment. On April 12, 2019, 3XL Crawfish, LLC filed a lawsuit against Us, Managing Member Minson Ngo, Luc Hoang, Boyd’s Seafood Inc., and Jason Cogburn in Harris County District Court (2019-26235, Harris County District Court, 3XL v. Boyd’s Seafood, LAC Franchising, LLC, Jason Cogburn, Minson Ngo, and Luc Hoang).”
3XL v. Boyd’s Seafood, LAC Franchising, LLC, Jason Cogburn, Minson Ngo, and Luc Hoang
dismissedBrought by a third party · filed 2019-04-12 · Harris County District Court · 2019-26235
“On April 12, 2019, 3XL Crawfish, LLC filed a lawsuit against Us, Managing Member Minson Ngo, Luc Hoang, Boyd’s Seafood Inc., and Jason Cogburn in Harris County District Court (2019-26235, Harris County District Court, 3XL v. Boyd’s Seafood, LAC Franchising, LLC, Jason Cogburn, Minson Ngo, and Luc Hoang).”Page 11 of the 2024 FDD, Item 3
Outcome: “LAC Franchising, LLC and Minson Ngo agreeing to pay 3XL $20,000 and 3XL agreeing to dismiss the case with prejudice. ITEM 4 BANKRUPTCY No bankruptcy is required to be disclosed in this Item.” (page 12)
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.
Disclosure signals that moved the score
How this shows up in the verdict
- Two litigation cases show franchisor-franchisee disputes over vendor control and advertising fund management, suggesting operational friction
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?