Our specialist sports lawyers and financial experts have a detailed understanding of how the high pressure and fast paced sport environment works. This means we can advise you and your business to proactively identify risks and help you avoid them, take advantage of opportunities, or both.
We’ll build a long-term relationship with you to develop our understanding of what makes you or your business unique. When legal issues or opportunities arise, we can guide you through with straightforward, pragmatic and sector-specific advice. We'll always aim to achieve an effective and efficient resolution, saving you time, money, and stress.
With our lawyers and experts behind you, you’ll be free to focus on achieving your goals throughout the various stages of your professional, business or personal journey.
We can help if you’re:
- An individual athlete (elite or grassroots level)
- A sports club
- An operator of a community or leisure group
- A national or international governing body
- An online platform or sports tech business
- A sports agency or sports agent
- A rights holder (for sporting events and individual athletes).
Some of our expert sports lawyers have also worked in-house for football clubs and other sport organisations. Our team have a detailed understanding of your sector, its risks and its possible opportunities.
We’ll be your single point of contact for all your legal and tax queries. As a full service law firm, you’ll get comprehensive and specialist advice across all legal areas, and financial experts who’ll work hard to protect your interests. If we can’t help, we’ll put you in touch with the right professionals from our worldwide network that can advise and support you further.
Watch the highlights from our recent sports networking event, Beyond the Pitch: Athlete Welfare Developments in Elite Sport, to learn more about how we support our clients in the sports sector.
Find out more about the impact of climate litigation on sport by watching sector expert Tom Barnard’s talk at the Sports Positive Summit 2023.
Our Services
We can advise on:
- Tax Issues - Completing tax returns, dealing with HMRC enquiries, advising on Image Rights structures
- Dispute resolution and disciplinary action -Protecting you from disputes altogether, and fighting your corner where they cannot be avoided including dealing with any disciplinary issues discretely
- Commercial transactions - Making sure you’re protected in arrangements with your supply chains, sponsors, partners, broadcasters, governing bodies and customers
- Data protection and privacy compliance - Protecting your business in a highly regulated environment and dealing with GDPR and cyber security issues
- Diversity and inclusion resources for your business - With the growing momentum and greater accountability of diversity and inclusion, you can’t ignore the need to invest in a comprehensive, long-term approach to building an empowering environment for your employees.
- Corporate, governance, finance and restructuring - Advising on appropriate governance, restructuring, disposals, acquisitions joint ventures, raising capital and related issues
- ESG services – it’s important to seek the right advice to help you deliver an ESG strategy with sustainable outcomes. That’s why we’re here to help.
- Managing and preventing injury in sport – elite sport is an ultra-competitive environment. But athletes and teams who can reduce their injury rates and shorten their recovery times can gain that competitive edge. Learn more about the role of physiotherapy, technology, and nutrition in relation to injury management and prevention.
- Mental health in elite sport with Lloyd Ashley – is awareness of mental health in sport increasing? And are people starting to consider the mental challenges athletes face? We discuss the importance of navigating mental health in elite sport.
- Women’s wellbeing in sport – how does wellbeing in women’s sport compare with the men’s? What additional support do they require? Can, or should, governing bodies, clubs and athletes be
- Property and real estate - Advising on developing and managing your property portfolio for long-term sustainability and profitability
- Employment and immigration - Advising on how you can employ and keep the best talent, ensure legal compliance and resolve employment issues before they threaten your reputation or business
- Intellectual property (IP) and reputation or brand management - Advising on protecting your image, brand and IP globally and enforcing your rights when anyone threatens that image or brand
- Personal legal services - Advising you on Wills, family law (like pre or post-nuptial agreements), buying or selling property, tax and estate planning
- Personal injury and rehabilitation support - Support while you can’t play sports and helping you get the right rehabilitation
- Charity projects - Advising you on making charitable contributions that are tax efficient or helping you set up your own charity or foundation
- Restructuring - Helping sport clubs and businesses identify and manage risks, navigate volatility, and preserve value in difficult times.
Why Choose Us
Our firm is actively involved in the sports industry and ranked number one for sports law in the independent Legal 500 rankings.
We’re actively involved in supporting our communities through sport too. As the official legal partner of Rugby Football Union (RFU), our role is to promote the game and help community clubs with their own legal issues.
Our firm also promotes disability sports with our Don’t Quit Do It campaign that encourages people (including our own clients) to get involved in sport. Through our personal injury work, we’ve seen how sport can build confidence and help people with disabilities live an active, independent life . Sport also plays a huge role in improving mental health and well-being which is something we actively promote both in and outside our firm.
Contact Us Today
With offices across the UK, we can help you no matter where you’re based. To speak to one of our sports lawyers, contact us online or call 0370 1500 100.
