Biography • Franchise

Philip Colman, who has been practising law for 32 years, is a partner in Melbourne based law firm, Mason Sier Turnbull. He has practised as a legal adviser to franchisors, franchisees and master franchisees since 1988. He has seen many of his clients grow from single unit operations to multinational franchise systems.

He is a member and former head of Mason Sier Turnbull's franchising practice group comprising eight lawyers and three paralegals, which acts for a large number of local and internationally based franchise systems.

Today, Philip's practice focuses on dispute resolution and litigation involving franchisors, franchisees and master franchisees as well as dealing with regulatory investigations in Australia. He has been retained as external counsel by other law firms in Australia to provide secondary opinions neutral case evaluations.

Philip also receives appointments to conduct mediations of franchising disputes by reason of his appointment to the panel of mediators maintained by the Australian Office of Franchising Mediation Adviser under the Franchising Code of Conduct.

Philip is the chair of the commercial litigation specialisation committee of the Law Institute of Victoria and has been accredited as a specialist in commercial litigation by the Law Institute of Victoria since 1993. Philip is also a member of the legal committee of the Franchise Council of Australia.

Philip is the author of numerous legal papers relating to developing issues in franchising in Australia and the laws affecting participants in the franchising sector, particularly under Australian competition law.