Sarah Powell Sarah Powell, Focus Brands (Photo: John Disney/ ALM)

Atlanta-based Focus Brands Inc. is the franchisor of more than 5,000 ice cream shops, bakeries, restaurants and cafes in the United States and 60 foreign countries under the brand names Carvel, Cinnabon, Schlotzsky's, Moe's Southwest Grill, Auntie Anne's, McAlister's Deli—and, on some military bases and in some international markets, Seattle's Best Coffee.

Focus Brands is also the sixth-largest food and beverage licensor in the world, extending its brands into alternative channels through grocery, consumer products, food service and ecommerce. Sarah Powell serves as the company's executive vice president, general counsel and secretary.

Legal Team

Focus Brands' legal team consists of 21 people, including five attorneys. It includes a franchise administration team led by the company's VP of franchise administration and several paralegals supporting both the legal and franchise administration functions.

Powell says the teams work across the company's six brands so that legal analysis and responses are more consistent for the company as a whole instead of siloed between the different brands.

“The team is very collaborative and responsive, and all members of the team have an open-door policy for the business to ask questions or run ideas by them,” she says.

The team keeps the majority of its domestic franchising administration and compliance work, contract negotiation and real estate work in-house, Powell says. It uses outside counsel for employment and commercial litigation matters, international franchising and trademark work and financing matters, she adds.

“We strive to ensure the right balance between the use of in-house counsel and outside counsel to maximize efficiency,” Powell says.

Outside Counsel

Focus Brands' primary outside counsel are: DLA Piper for franchising and franchise litigation; King & Spalding for corporate matters; and FordHarrison for employment matters. The company used Paul, Weiss, Rifkand, Wharton & Garrison for an $800 million securitization of debt that was completed in April 2017.

Daily Duties

“With six different brands running six different businesses, I can honestly say that my duties are never the same day to day,” Powell says. “There is never a dull moment at Focus Brands.”

Powell serves on Focus Brands' executive team, helping to set strategy for the company. On a daily basis, she says she may handle myriad corporate, compliance, litigation, trademark, employment, contract and real estate items for one or more of the brands.

Since arriving at Focus Brands in 2015, Powell has led the establishment of a compliance program and a cross-functional compliance committee and helped establish company policies and procedures such as a code of business conduct and ethics, a whistleblower policy and an anti-corruption policy.

Route to the Top

Powell started her career at a law firm in Virginia, where she practiced in a wide variety of areas, including insurance defense litigation, real estate and transactional matters, employment and local government law. About four years later, she went in-house as a staff attorney at Delhaize America, the parent company of Food Lion, Hannaford Bros. Co. and other grocery store chains. There she became assistant GC and led the company's real estate transactions from a legal perspective, managing litigation and assisting with mergers and acquisitions.

In 2002, she moved to Advance Auto Parts and eventually became the company's senior vice president, GC and corporate secretary. In 2013 and 2014, Powell's team completed the due diligence and negotiated the company's $2 billion acquisition of CarQuest.

Powell said she decided to take the top-lawyer position at Focus Brands when she was recruited for it in 2015 “because the company's brands are iconic and exciting, and the industry presented a new and different challenge for me in my career.”

“The best part about being at Focus Brands is the people,” she added. “The team members at Focus Brands are very knowledgeable and collaborative and really want the very best for all of the brands.”

Personal

Next month, Powell will have been married to her husband for four years. She has two grown stepchildren who live in Virginia, where her mother, sister, brother-in-law and twin nephews also live. Powell plays the piano and sings, and she and her husband like to travel.

Last Book Read

“11/22/63″ by Stephen King. The book centers around a man who travels back in time to try to prevent the assassination of John F. Kennedy and contemplates the different outcomes of history that could have resulted if Kennedy's death had not occurred.

Sarah Powell Sarah Powell, Focus Brands (Photo: John Disney/ ALM)

Atlanta-based Focus Brands Inc. is the franchisor of more than 5,000 ice cream shops, bakeries, restaurants and cafes in the United States and 60 foreign countries under the brand names Carvel, Cinnabon, Schlotzsky's, Moe's Southwest Grill, Auntie Anne's, McAlister's Deli—and, on some military bases and in some international markets, Seattle's Best Coffee.

Focus Brands is also the sixth-largest food and beverage licensor in the world, extending its brands into alternative channels through grocery, consumer products, food service and ecommerce. Sarah Powell serves as the company's executive vice president, general counsel and secretary.

Legal Team

Focus Brands' legal team consists of 21 people, including five attorneys. It includes a franchise administration team led by the company's VP of franchise administration and several paralegals supporting both the legal and franchise administration functions.

Powell says the teams work across the company's six brands so that legal analysis and responses are more consistent for the company as a whole instead of siloed between the different brands.

“The team is very collaborative and responsive, and all members of the team have an open-door policy for the business to ask questions or run ideas by them,” she says.

The team keeps the majority of its domestic franchising administration and compliance work, contract negotiation and real estate work in-house, Powell says. It uses outside counsel for employment and commercial litigation matters, international franchising and trademark work and financing matters, she adds.

“We strive to ensure the right balance between the use of in-house counsel and outside counsel to maximize efficiency,” Powell says.

Outside Counsel

Focus Brands' primary outside counsel are: DLA Piper for franchising and franchise litigation; King & Spalding for corporate matters; and FordHarrison for employment matters. The company used Paul, Weiss, Rifkand, Wharton & Garrison for an $800 million securitization of debt that was completed in April 2017.

Daily Duties

“With six different brands running six different businesses, I can honestly say that my duties are never the same day to day,” Powell says. “There is never a dull moment at Focus Brands.”

Powell serves on Focus Brands' executive team, helping to set strategy for the company. On a daily basis, she says she may handle myriad corporate, compliance, litigation, trademark, employment, contract and real estate items for one or more of the brands.

Since arriving at Focus Brands in 2015, Powell has led the establishment of a compliance program and a cross-functional compliance committee and helped establish company policies and procedures such as a code of business conduct and ethics, a whistleblower policy and an anti-corruption policy.

Route to the Top

Powell started her career at a law firm in Virginia, where she practiced in a wide variety of areas, including insurance defense litigation, real estate and transactional matters, employment and local government law. About four years later, she went in-house as a staff attorney at Delhaize America, the parent company of Food Lion, Hannaford Bros. Co. and other grocery store chains. There she became assistant GC and led the company's real estate transactions from a legal perspective, managing litigation and assisting with mergers and acquisitions.

In 2002, she moved to Advance Auto Parts and eventually became the company's senior vice president, GC and corporate secretary. In 2013 and 2014, Powell's team completed the due diligence and negotiated the company's $2 billion acquisition of CarQuest.

Powell said she decided to take the top-lawyer position at Focus Brands when she was recruited for it in 2015 “because the company's brands are iconic and exciting, and the industry presented a new and different challenge for me in my career.”

“The best part about being at Focus Brands is the people,” she added. “The team members at Focus Brands are very knowledgeable and collaborative and really want the very best for all of the brands.”

Personal

Next month, Powell will have been married to her husband for four years. She has two grown stepchildren who live in Virginia, where her mother, sister, brother-in-law and twin nephews also live. Powell plays the piano and sings, and she and her husband like to travel.

Last Book Read

“11/22/63″ by Stephen King. The book centers around a man who travels back in time to try to prevent the assassination of John F. Kennedy and contemplates the different outcomes of history that could have resulted if Kennedy's death had not occurred.