Media, entertainment & sports law - Sports law

Sports law is, to some extent, an artificial or invented field of specialism. On one view, it is merely a combination of a number of different areas of law, which happen to have the common connection that they arise in the context of sport: contract law, restraint of trade, compliance with the principles of natural justice, and personal injury law, to name some of the most obvious examples. Nevertheless, the application of these areas of jurisprudence to the field of sport undoubtedly gives rise to problems which are of a peculiar and interesting kind, and which typically need to be considered and resolved in ways that are unique to this particular area.

Members of chambers have considerable experience and established expertise in this regard. They regularly advise and represent athletes, sporting bodies, and others involved in this area, such as sponsors and media organisations. They have appeared in many cases in the High Court, in proceedings before regulatory bodies, and in arbitrations, in disputes involving a wide range of issues, including personal injury, contractual rights, the liability of sporting bodies arising out of the performance of their regulatory functions, and judicial review. Those that they have acted for or against, or appeared in front of, include the British Boxing Board of Control, the Football Association, the British Ice Hockey Association, the Jockey Club and the Rugby Football Association.