Leon is a Partner specialising in commercial and regulatory work for clients in the sports and media sectors. Prior to Onside Law, Leon trained and qualified at US law firm Jones Day.
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Location
London
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Skills
Commercial, Corporate, Regulatory
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Previous Clubs
Jones Day, ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 (on loan), FIFA (on loan)
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Specialisms
Sponsorship, Major Events, Football Finance
Leon advises stakeholders across the sports industry, including international federations, national governing bodies, sports teams, talent, intermediaries, brands and agencies.
Leon has particular expertise advising on the delivery and protection of major sports events, having advised FIFA, World Rugby, the ICC Cricket World Cup, ECB and FISU on bidding and hosting matters relating to their flagship competitions. Leon also has expertise in sponsorship and personal endorsement programmes, football transfers and image rights, football finance transactions, and the commercial exploitation of media rights.
Leon has a wide range of in-house experience having spent two years on secondment at Lord’s Cricket Ground, where he acted as the lead lawyer for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 organising committee. In 2020, Leon spent six months on secondment with FIFA, primarily advising their sponsorship, licensing and digital teams. Leon is also a contributing author to the comprehensive legal review: Football and the Law (2nd Ed) (Bloomsbury, 2022).
Leon is a Liverpool FC fan, and can often be found telling anyone who will listen about the time he played centre-mid against Patrik Berger and Vladimir Šmicer.