Sports & entertainment

Among the different types of client are professional athletes and performers; their managers, coaches and agents; the creators of artistic works; sports clubs and governing bodies; the owners of theatres and festival grounds; broadcasters, distributors and advertising agencies; and the big brands that sponsor tournaments or individual stars. Barristers generally become involved in relation to disputes (or tax liabilities) and at the heart of these disputes we usually find contract and intellectual property law, plus issues of privacy or defamation. The sporting world additionally involves regulation and issues of professional conduct, and with huge scope for things to go wrong in both sport and entertainment, claims based in tort will never be far away. A barrister specialising in sports or media cases must possess a good bedside manner as clients can be more temperamental than the average.