SPORT

We have been retained by the England and Wales Cricket Board to advise on all aspects of their legal affairs.  Our specific cricket experience includes advising the ECB on:

• sponsorship agreements (including those relating to the England team, Test Matches and other international series, domestic cups and competitions and official partner and supplier deals)

• player-related matters (including all the England player central contracts and related issues such as the Indian Premier League releases)

• bespoke commercial projects and deals (such as agreements and issues relating to hosting of the 2009 Twenty20 Cricket World Cup, the Stanford events and staging agreements with international match venues)

• brand protection, intellectual property and other licensing issues, broadcasting, new media, agency and other commercial matters

• regulatory matters (including doping) and dispute resolution

• constitutional, corporate governance and ICC issues

We have an unrivalled client list, having acted as legal advisor to each of the previous four European Ryder Cup captains.  Our other golf experience includes:

• responsibility for the legal affairs of Nick Faldo and his many business interests, including all his broadcasting and sponsorship deals, his golf course design, resorts and events businesses, player management, and his acclaimed Junior Series

• advising other leading players such as Justin Rose, Henrik Stenson, Ross Fisher, Paul Lawrie and Retief Goosen. Our partners have also advised the likes of Tiger Woods, Padraig Harrington, Colin Montgomerie, Adam Scott, Luke Donald, Nick Dougherty and Trevor Immelman

• advising equipment and clothing brands such as Srixon, Cleveland Golf and Lyle & Scott

• sponsorship agreements including the title sponsorship of the HSBC World Matchplay

• licensing, merchandising, apparel and other commercial agreements for the Open Championship, the Ryder Cup and the R&A, the Senior British Open, the Women's British Open and the Dunhill Links

We advised National Express on its major sponsorship deals with the England Football Team, the FA Cup and Wembley Stadium. Our other specific football experience includes:

• acting for high profile managers such as Sven Goran Eriksson (including on his England team manager contractual arrangements) and Alan Pardew

• advising international players such as West Ham and England's Matthew Upson, France captain Patrick Vieira, Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic, and Teddy Sheringham on transfers, endorsement and other contractual issues and image rights structuring

• advising a number of clubs on various corporate/commercial legal matters

• advising Texaco on its sponsorship of the Football League Championship and other sponsors such as Dial-a -Phone on its shirt sponsorship of Middlesborough FC and Nike on its kit supply/sponsorship of Sunderland FC

• advising on football financing issues and projects including the acquisition of third party interests in clubs and players and player transfer finance for clients such as Hero Football Fund

• representing players, managers, clubs and other football clients at FA Disciplinary Hearings

• one of our partners, Oliver Hunt, has considerable personal and practical experience of the football industry, having sat on the board of former Football League club Kidderminster Harriers FC for many years  

We act for many of the national race team franchisees in the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport Series.  Our motor racing experience includes:

• advising the A1GP franchisees on the negotiation of their franchise agreements, and advice on shareholder, investment and financing arrangements, intellectual property exploitation and a wide range of commercial matters and agreements including all the driver, sponsorship, technical services, agency, consultancy and licensing agreements

• advising Superleague Formula, a new international motorsport series which launched in 2008 and raced at international circuits in the UK, France, Belgium, Portugal, Italy and Spain, on the exploitation of all broadcasting and new media rights

• acting for motorsport start-up ventures, such as the Grand Prix Masters Series, on all its legal affairs

• advising rights-holders and venues such as the FIA, SRO and Santapod Raceway (the home of FIA's European drag racing)

• advising drivers such as  Ralf Schumacher on all driving arrangements with both Williams and Toyota and riders such as superbike racer Warwick Nowland and MotoGP racer Andrea Dovizioso

• advising Wrigley Airwaves on its sponsorships of World Rally Championships, GSE Yamaha British Superbike Championship team, BMW British Touring Car and A1GP

We advise the International Tennis Federation on various matters including the drafting and implementation of a new anti corruption code which has been applied across the whole of professional tennis.  Our other specific tennis experience includes:

• advising the French Tennis Federation on broadcasting and ticketing/hospitality arrangements in addition to the defence of a High Court action brought by adidas against all four Grand Slams

• acting for high profile players and coaches on endorsement and other matters, including Tim Henman, Carlos Moya, Tommy Haas, John Lloyd and Peter Lundgren

• advising on major sponsorship deals such as Sony Ericsson's sponsorship of Maria Sharapova,  Blackrock's title sponsorship of the Masters at the Albert Hall and NH Hotel's sponsorship of the Davis Cup

• advising on other major commercial deals such as the purchase of all commercial rights (including broadcasting rights) to the Italian Masters Series tennis event

• advising tennis brands such as Babolat and Dinamica on agency, distribution and licensing issues

We have been retained by 2009 Premiership runners-up, London Irish, to advise them on all aspects of their legal affairs, including all commercial, corporate, employment and player-related matters.  Our other rugby experience includes:

• acting for leading domestic and international rugby agents (including wide experience of image rights structuring and issues)

• acting for a Premiership rugby club in a regulatory action against a governing body

• advising sponsors such as Lloyds TSB on its title sponsorship of the 6 Nations and the infamous Tongan, Paddy Power

• acting for rights holders such as the Host Nation Committee for 2007 Rugby World Cup

• advising leading players such as Brian O'Driscoll, Andy Gomarsall, Joe Van Niekerk, Ben Skirving and Brent Russell

• acting for RTH07, the official ticket and hospitality agent to the 2007 Rugby World Cup

• being a member of the RFU's panel of legal advisors

Our work across other sports including sailing, athletics, cycling and triathlon is also extensive, our partners notably having provided specialist advice on:

• sponsorship matters both for sponsors/brands (such as Sony Ericsson, Betfair and SAB Miller) and rights-holders (such as the Tour of Britain cycling event on its deal with T-Mobile and the British Triathlon Association on its record-breaking deal with Corus)

• representation and endorsement matters for sporting legends such as Dame Kelly Holmes and Daley Thomson

• athlete/team agreement drafting and advice including advising UK Sport on its "World Class Performance Plan" athlete agreements for all Olympic and Paralympic sports

• regulatory issues for various national governing bodies, including drafting and advising in relation to anti-doping regulations and selection and disciplinary policies/appeal procedures

• licensing, collaboration and other commercial agreements for a diverse range of other sports-related businesses such as Opta Sports Data, Sports Recruitment International and Sport Magazine