22 Apr 25
Onside Law is delighted to formally announce that Harriet Leach has been appointed Partner with effect from 1 May 2025.
Harriet has a corporate and governance/regulatory legal practice working across the sport’s industry, with a specialism in new and restructured leagues and competitions. She is currently part of the core deal team advising the England and Wales Cricket Board on the sale of the eight teams competing in The Hundred, at a combined value of just over £975 million.
Harriet also leads the firm’s market-leading women’s sport practice, which is growing from strength to strength, against the backdrop that global revenues in women’s elite sports are projected to reach at least £1.88 billion in 2025.
Recent highlights include working with England Netball on the relaunch of the Netball Super League and the inaugural Super Cup in 2025, being part of the founding team of World Sevens Football as they bring to market a new 7 a side global professional women’s football Series this Summer and working closely with Premiership Women’s Rugby, London City Lionesses and More Than Equal (a female motorsport talent programme) over recent years.
Harriet won the award for “Contribution of Regulation/Services in Women’s Sport” at the Everything in Sport Awards, is a mentor for the Government’s Women’s Sport Investment Accelerator and hosts the firm’s “New Era for Women’s Sport Series”, with past events including a fireside chat with Julie Uhrman (co-founder of Angel City) and panel with Kelly Simmons OBE, Belinda Moore and Beth Barrett-Wild. Planning is underway for the next event at the Women’s Euros in Switzerland this year.
Harriet trained and qualified at DLA Piper UK LLP before rising through the ranks at Onside Law.
Simon Thorp, one of the firm’s founding partners, said “Harriet has become a leading light in women’s sport and beyond. Not only has she been a lead adviser on many notable matters such as the Netball Super League and the sale of the Hundred franchises, she has also been instrumental in developing and promoting several new sporting initiatives such as World Sevens Football. We are delighted to recognise Harriet’s success in welcoming her to the Onside Law partnership”.
Harriet said, “I am proud to be promoted to Partner and look forward to using my platform as a launchpad to turbo charge the firm’s growth, including in women’s sport, new competitions, governance restructures and private investment. I am excited to continue working closely with our clients operating at the heart of the sports sector to embrace, and adapt to, positive change. It is a privilege to help bring their ideas to life and at times challenge the status quo to make sport fit for the future”.
For further information on the above, please contact info@onsidelaw.co.uk
