(FORTUNE Small Business) – Not all franchises are alike. To sort through some 600,000 individual businesses, FSB, with the help of FRANdata, a research firm in Arlington, Va., divided franchises into three categories: the very expensive, the fastest growing, and those that seem to attract the most litigation from franchisees. Franchisors insist the number of suits is no indication of the attractiveness of their franchises.

SOURCE: FSB; FRANdata NOTES: [*] From 1993 to 2003, these franchisors had the highest number of lawsuits (both settled and pending) per franchise unit.