Erin K. Tenner

Partner

Erin K. Tenner, Partner with Gray, Duffy, Eisenbaum & Lee, LLP, has been legal counsel representing auto dealers in buying and selling auto dealerships for more than 30 years.

Her practice focuses on business buy/sells for auto dealerships, including asset, stock sale and purchase agreements; commercial real property transactions and owners’ agreements. She has handled single point transactions as well as the transfers of as many as 13 dealership franchises in one transaction. Ms. Tenner has represented automotive dealers and other businesses since 1986, and has published the California Auto Dealer newsletter since 1996. Additionally, she is a nationally recognized speaker and author on the subject of automotive buy/sells.

Ms. Tenner earned her Juris Doctorate from the University of Detroit Law School, where she served as an editor of the University of Detroit Law Review. She obtained her Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from Michigan State University Eli Broad School of Business. She is admitted to practice law in California and is a member of the Los Angeles County Bar Association.

Specific Experience

• Hundreds of auto dealership bulk asset sales and purchases.
• Handling transaction structure on hundreds of dealership transfers.
• Multiple entity formations and transfers.
• Hundreds of automotive real estate transfers and triple net leases.
• Drafting shareholder agreements, operating agreements and partnership agreements.

Legal Writings, Articles and Publications

• “Erin Tenner on Finding Your Niche” Published by: LexisNexis February 2020
• Author: “Buyers Beware: Signing Dealer Agreements Without Reading Can Get Costly” Published by: Digital Dealer October 2019
• Author: “Dealer Sales and Service Agreements have pitfalls; buyers beware” Published by: Automotive Buy Sell Report September 2019
• Author: “The New Consumer Privacy Laws: What You Can Do Now To Comply” Published by: Auto Success August 2019
• Author: “Properly Structuring Your Buy Sell Agreement To Avoid Litigation” Published by: Automotive Buy Sell Report.com March 2017
• Author: “Buy-Sell Agreements: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly,” California Lawyer, January 2017 for continuing education credit
• Author of multiple articles published in NADC’s Defender
• Author, Frequent contributor to Automotive Buy/Sell Report
• Publisher, California Auto Dealer Newsletter since 1996

Speaking Engagements

• NADA Show 2024, “Financial Considerations When Buying or Selling a Dealership”
• NADC, 14th Annual Member Conference 2018, “Latest Legal Trends in Sexual Harassment Law and What Attorneys Advising Auto Dealers Need to be Thinking About”
• NADC, Fall Conference 2017, “Financial and Legal Issues Affecting Multi-Franchise Buy/Sells”
• NADA 2014, “Buy/Sell Do’s and Don’ts”
• NADC 2011, “The Closing Process and Pitfalls in a Dealership Acquisition”

Recognition and Awards

• Southern California Super Lawyers
• AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell
• American Jurisprudence Award

Community Involvement and Associations

• Member, National Association of Dealer Counsel
• Member, California New Car Dealers’ Association
• Former Community West Bank Advisory Board Member
• Former Los Angeles and Ventura County Superior Courts, Court Appointed Mediator