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  • Tara A. Speer

    Tara A. Speer

    Shareholder

    Tara A. Speer is a Shareholder and member of Stark & Stark’s Business & Corporate Group, where she focuses her practice primarily in the fields of franchise, employment, and trademark.

    Ms. Speer helps franchisors manage all aspects of the franchise relationship including handling state registrations, advising on day-to-day franchisee relations, and preparing disclosure documents, franchise agreements, development agreements and supplemental documentation. Ms. Speer regularly counsels franchisors on compliance matters and franchise system management.

    Ms. Speer also provides employment planning and counseling services to corporate clients. This includes drafting employee polices and handbooks, review of existing policies to ensure compliance with existing law, drafting employment agreements, separation agreements, confidentiality agreements, and restrictive covenant agreements, as well as providing general day-to-day assistance with human resource matters. Ms. Speer strives to provide her clients with the best advice to maximize protection and minimize liability exposure.

    Additionally, Ms. Speer routinely assists clients with trademark analysis and research. She counsels clients regarding the feasibility of trademark registrations and assists them with their band protection goals through initiating and responding to USPTO filings.

    Prior to joining Stark & Stark, Ms. Speer gained experience as a law clerk for an insurance defense firm where she did extensive research and brief writing on a variety of insurance related matters.

    Ms. Speer’s combined skills offer clients a valuable resource. She is able to take an interdisciplinary approach to client issues and provides advice utilizing her expertise and knowledge base from a number of different fields. As a result, clients can come to expect efficient and insightful representation.

    Bar/Court Admissions

    • New Jersey 
    • New York
    • U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey

    Education

    • J.D., Seton Hall University School of Law, 2008
    • B.A., New York University, 2003

    Thought Leadership

    Publications

    Honors & Awards

    • New Jersey Super Lawyers Rising Stars List issued by Thomson Reuters (Methodology)
      • 2017; Franchise/Dealership

    * No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey.

    Professional Organizations

    • New Jersey State Bar Association – Insurance Law Section, Employment Law Section
    • American Bar Association – Forum on Franchising
    • International Franchise Association

    Community Organizations

    • Kiwanis Club of Hackettstown – Past President
    Business & Commercial Law Blog
    January 8, 2026
    Beginning December 8, 2025, New Jersey implemented a significant change to how employers must report employee separations to the New Jersey...
    Business & Commercial Law Blog
    March 16, 2012
    Suffering a first party insurance loss or facing a lawsuit from a third party can be two of the most difficult and unsettling experiences for an...
    Firm News
    July 1, 2017
    The law firm of Stark & Stark has announced that five Associates were elected Shareholders effective July 1. These new Shareholders are Marshall...

    Firm Highlights

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