onside law advises sports, entertainment, fashion and other clients in all forms of dispute resolution across a wide range of contractual, intellectual property, media, employment, disciplinary and regulatory disputes.
Our contentious experience includes UK High Court and County Court litigation, cases before the Court of Arbitration for Sport, doping and other sports disciplinary disputes (including FA and RFU tribunals and hearings), international arbitrations, mediations, employment tribunals and intellectual property/domain name disputes.
We always take a commercial, results-focused approach to dispute resolution. We can add real value to our clients through our understanding and considerable experience of the industries in which they operate. We have also built up a quality network of preferred specialist counsel from some of the leading barristers' chambers in the UK.
Recent industry cases handled by our lawyers include acting for:
- the French Tennis Federation in its defence of a High Court action brought by Adidas
- a football scout in a High Court claim against a leading football agency football
- agents in FIFA Players' Status Committee proceedings against an international footballer and FA Disciplinary Commission hearings
- a former Premiership footballer in a High Court action against his former Premiership club
- high-profile football managers in the defence of High Court injunction proceedings and at FA Disciplinary Commission hearings
- a Premiership rugby club on a regulatory dispute with a governing body
- a leading rugby agency in a contractual dispute with a leading international player
- the International Paralympic Committee on the defence of doping appeals before the Court of Arbitration for Sport
- a sports hospitality company in a High Court ticketing dispute
- celebrities and governing bodies in High Court defamation proceedings
- A1GP motor racing teams in disputes with drivers, shareholders and commercial partners
- a leading golfer in a High Court contractual dispute with a sponsor
- governing bodies, clubs, businesses and international and domestic sportspeople on a wide range of IP infringement actions (including domain name disputes), regulatory disputes and employment/disciplinary issues
“onside law rises in the rankings following another strong year and has emerged as a serious player in the market. According to clients its 'superior team' 'has very good knowledge of the sports industry' and 'is refreshingly commercial’. It ‘impresses in an area where it has genuine niche expertise’.”
“As a boutique sports and entertainment firm, it is able to offer its clients highly specialised advice, which has been key to its attracting and maintaining client relationships with prominent sports bodies such as the England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and Ryder Cup Europe. Sources say: ‘All four main partners are highly charismatic individuals, all are young, enthusiastic and energetic, and all work exceptionally well together as a team.’" 
