Drew Chalfant

Drew is an experienced transactional attorney who is passionate about advising his clients with a “business-first” mentality. Drew’s practice focuses on holistic business and legal advising for his client’s various needs, including: franchising, licensing and distribution; small business and independent contractor representation; contract drafting, negotiation and review, intellectual property registration, management and enforcement, real estate transactions; mergers and acquisitions; and pre-litigation dispute resolution and counseling. Drew has advised numerous businesses inside and outside of the franchising sector by providing support to all facets of the business lifecycle from inception to private equity exit.

Drew co-founded Roda & Chalfant, LLC in 2020 and serves as a partner, attorney, and counselor to his clients. After graduating summa cum laude from the Salmon P. Chase College of Law, Drew quickly rose to the rank of General Counsel for the first-in-class franchise development firm, St. Gregory Development Group. Drew also served as in-house counsel for a number of franchise brands within the St. Gregory portfolio, including Shred415 Franchising, CycleBar Franchising, Fueled Collective Franchising, and LB Franchising. As General Counsel, Drew was responsible for all day-to-day legal issues that faced this multi-faceted organization, including intellectual property matters, contracts and transactional issues, real estate matters and commercial lease reviews and negotiations, employment and labor issues, franchise disclosure document and franchise agreement drafting, and general franchise regulatory compliance matters. Prior to co-founding Roda | Chalfant, Drew served as Vice President and Corporate Counsel to Ultimate Toys, a distributor of custom luxury Mercedes Sprinter vans, and as Corporate Counsel to Green Investment Holdings and its affiliates, a commercial and residential real estate holding company.

Salmon P. Chase College of Law, Northern Kentucky University

J.D. | Business, Intellectual Property and Contract Law

Honors: Summa Cum Laude

Partner & Attorney at Law

Roda Chalfant Law

2020 - Current

Advising franchisors, franchisees, business owners, and real estate investors in all of their business legal needs.

General Counsel

St. Gregory Development Group

2015 - 2020

In-house counsel to a franchise development firm responsible for selling over 5,000 franchise units across the U.S. and internationally. Concurrent role as in-house counsel for CycleBar Franchising and Shred415 Franchising, both boutique fitness franchise concepts.

State Bar of Ohio  # 0097019

Member

Current

American Bar Association

Current

Cincinnati Bar Association

Current

ABA Forum on Franchising

Current

Ohio

Supreme Court of Ohio Office of Attorney Services

Q. We received a cease & desist concerning our business name as another firm has a similar name.They only gave 2 days notic

March 9, 2021

A: You should have an attorney look into this. Sometimes the opposing side is right, sometimes they are just trying to intimidate you.

Q. What are my options if a trademark has been established but had an abandonment notice Number 88416440.

March 8, 2021

A: Typically, you would do some additional research to determine if the mark you want is still in use, even though the registration application has been abandoned. In the U.S., trademark rights arise out of use of a mark in commerce and the registration simply puts others on notice that you are using the mark. In other words, a registration of a trademark is a PART of the analysis of who has rights to use the mark. There are cases where someone has successfully registered a mark, but someone else who was using it first still ended up successfully challenging that use and winning. For this particular mark, it seems they abandoned it because the trademark office found a registration for "GOODBYE PAIN" for the same exact product (topical pain creams), and was challenging the ability to register it. Identical trademarks can co-exist so long as the products are different enough that it's not likely to cause confusion that the same company is making the two different products (think Delta Faucets v. Delta Airlines). If you're planning on using "BYE BYE PAIN" for other products, you MAY be able to register it, but the close those products are to pain treatments, the more of an uphill climb you're gonna face. A trademark attorney can help you with this. ... Read More

Q. I would like to trademark “KOUTURE” is this available. Also what are the steps to trademarking anything

February 27, 2021

A: A trademark attorney can help break this down for you. Most of them over charge their clients and don’t really give a s*** about your business beyond the trademark filing. Call me if you want a fair price on your trademark and someone who wants to plug in as a legit partner in your company’s growth.