Amy Capobianco Marsar
Represents automotive dealers in buy/sell transactions. Advises on manufacturer relations, regulatory matters, dealership contracts, and business structuring.
See full profileAutomotive Dealership
Dealership decisions carry industry-specific legal, regulatory, and business consequences. We advise vehicle dealers on operations, transactions, manufacturer relationships, workforce matters, disputes, and ownership transitions.
Our focus
Legal strategy built around the business of automotive retail.
An automotive dealership is more than a retail operation. Manufacturer requirements and state regulations shape how the business operates, while decisions involving employees, property, taxes, and ownership can affect its value and future. We help dealers address those issues with an understanding of how each decision fits the broader business.
Our clients include automobile, truck, powersports, recreational vehicle, and other vehicle dealerships in Pennsylvania and beyond. We advise established dealer groups and individual dealerships, as well as owners entering or leaving the industry. As counsel to the Pennsylvania Automotive Association (PAA), we work closely with dealers on the legal and regulatory issues affecting automotive retail. When appropriate, we also coordinate with a dealership’s existing local counsel.
Our work spans the dealership lifecycle. We help clients form, acquire, sell, and transfer dealerships. We advise on franchise and manufacturer requirements, dealer licensing, consumer complaints, and workforce matters. When disagreements threaten a dealership’s rights or operations, we represent clients in regulatory proceedings and litigation.
Dealership matters often require several areas of legal experience at once. A transaction may involve real estate, environmental, tax, or employment considerations. Succession planning may require coordination between corporate and estate planning counsel. We bring those perspectives together while keeping the dealership’s operations, ownership objectives, and long-term value in view.
We help clients buy, sell, form, and relocate dealerships. Our work includes transaction agreements tailored to dealership operations, manufacturer and regulatory approvals, and tax considerations affecting sale proceeds and acquisition costs.
We advise dealerships on franchise agreements, terminations, relocations, and manufacturer requirements involving facilities, location, sales performance, and customer satisfaction. We represent dealers when manufacturer actions threaten their franchise rights or ability to operate.
We help dealerships address late title work, dealer plate use, temporary tags, and threatened suspensions of state safety inspection privileges. We also represent clients before PennDOT, the State Board of Vehicle Manufacturers, Dealers and Salespersons, and other Pennsylvania agencies that regulate dealership operations.
We advise dealerships on employee relations, workplace policies, and claims involving age or disability discrimination and other employment laws. We also represent dealers in matters before the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the courts.
We represent dealerships in lemon law lawsuits, consumer complaints, warranty disputes, and other commercial actions. We also advise on advertising and consumer protection requirements and negotiate with the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office when complaints or investigations arise.
We help dealerships acquire, lease, develop, relocate, and expand their facilities. Our work includes zoning and land development approvals, property agreements, and the real estate issues involved in establishing a new dealership location.
We help dealerships respond when environmental problems are discovered at an operating location or during a purchase or sale. Our attorneys assess potential liability, advise on cleanup and compliance obligations, and address environmental provisions in dealership transactions.
We advise dealership owners on transferring the business to the next generation or another designated successor. Our work includes estate and tax planning designed to preserve the dealership’s value, reduce the risk of a forced sale, and support the successor’s approval as dealer-principal.
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