My AV blocked it due to malware. :-D
Inside the world of football’s high-power, high-
price lawyers: ‘I’ve got a KC, who have you got?’
Jacob Whitehead
Dec 8, 2023
In late November, a lunch took place in the private dining room of
The Delaunay, a restaurant in the Covent Garden district of central
London. The minimum spend was set at £2,500 and the menu
included poached halibut, petit fours and port. It was a client lunch
held by Blackstone Chambers, the leading ‘set’ of barristers in the
sports law field. At the long table was a who’s who of King’s
Counsels (KCs), the elite of the legal world.
“All legends of the game,” one sports lawyer from a different firm
described the guests.
Six days earlier, Everton’s 10-point deduction, the largest in Premier
League history, had been decided by an independent commission.
Barristers from Blackstone represented all three interested parties —
the Premier League, Everton and five clubs seeking compensation.
That representation will continue, with arbitration ongoing, Everton
having submitted an appeal, and the other clubs pursuing a nine-figure
claim.
The dinner at The Delaunay was organised before the deduction was
announced, but it morphed into an event marking the case’s
significance for the chambers.
Adam Lewis KC, who represented the Premier League, acted as an
informal host, while lawyers involved in the dispute took turns to rise
and give speeches about some of the case’s key points, including a
history of football’s financial fair play (FFP) rules and the ability of
clubs to sue each other.
The dinner illustrated that the futures of football clubs are no longer
only decided on the pitch or in the boardroom. In a sporting landscape
that is increasingly contested and litigious, the courts have become
another stage. And with only a handful of elite practitioners, this is a
world where razor-sharp precision and tactical acumen are vital when
it comes to a client’s fortunes — whether a football club, a league or
an individual.
“This isn’t somewhere you can fake it,” says one solicitor who has
instructed barristers on behalf of several Premier League clubs and,
like others in this piece, was speaking anonymously to protect
relationships. “Everyone sees what you do. If you didn’t have serious
expert skills, you just would not survive in this space. It is too
adversarial, it is too public. Errors you might see publicly from
politicians — these guys just don’t do that. They don’t slip up.”
Blackstone Chambers in Temple, central London (Jacob Whitehead/The Athletic)
As high-profile lawsuits unfold across the sport, including those
involving the Premier League champions, betting bans and
compensation claims, The Athletic spoke to many of the lawyers
involved.
These are the secrets of those who are privy to the secrets — the
people who shape football with their words rather than their feet.
Strictly speaking, sports law does not exist.
“It’s an artificial creation,” says one lawyer. “What it really means is
a commercial or regulatory lawyer with a real knowledge of the sports
industry.”
That has not stopped the specialism from becoming big business.
There are separate arbitrations ongoing between the Premier League
and three of its shareholder clubs — Manchester City, Chelsea, and
Everton. Dozens of high-profile figures seek representation each
season amid disciplinary disputes with the Football Association, the
English game’s governing body. On top of this, routine work is
spiralling — transfers, contracts, commercial deals. When
midfielder Kevin De Bruyne negotiated his most recent Manchester
City contract, his closest advisors were a data analyst and a sports
lawyer rather than a traditional agent.
Generally, lawyers are in the background, but they are increasingly
visible in football. Patrick Stewart became acting chief executive
of Manchester United last month. Tim Lewis is highly influential
at Arsenal. Both men are corporate lawyers by trade.
Lord Pannick KC, who is defending Manchester City against 115
Premier League charges, had his name displayed by the club’s fans at
a game on a giant banner inspired by a hit song from local band The
Smiths: “Pannick on the streets of London”.
“There have always been barristers who have taken on celebrity
status,” says one lawyer. “It goes right back to Edward Marshall Hall
in the 17th century (nicknamed ‘The Great Defender’ during a string
of high-profile cases). That’s always been an attraction to advocates.”
One example is Nick De Marco KC, a member of Blackstone
Chambers and a guest at November’s dinner, who has represented
more than 45 Premier League and English Football League clubs and
became famous on social media when he worked on behalf
of Newcastle United during their takeover battle with the Premier
League.
“Why are there more sports lawyers? Why are they more high
profile?” asks Blackstone’s Michael Beloff KC. “The answer is one
word: money.”
Back when Beloff, nicknamed ‘The Godfather Of Sports Law’, began
his career, players were receiving just £100 per week in wages. The
81-year-old has been involved in a string of major cases as an
advocate and arbitrator and Pannick is one of his former juniors.
Beloff represented British track-and-field athlete Christine Ohuruogu
in her successful bid to overturn the British Olympic Association’s
(BOA) lifetime ban from competing at the Olympic Games after she
was suspended for missing three drug tests in 18 months. She went on
to win gold in the 400m at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and then
silver in the same event at the next Olympics four years later in
London.
Beloff also chaired the International Cricket Council panel that
banned four Pakistani players for match-fixing in 2010 and acted for
George Best in 1979 when the Manchester United legend wanted to
leave Fulham to play for U.S. side Fort Lauderdale Strikers.
“It was an extraordinary case,” Beloff says of Best. “The funny thing
about it was that the opponent who was representing the Football
League was also doing a murder (trial) at the Old Bailey (the UK’s
highest court), so he kept popping in and out of court every few
days.”
Beloff came to prominence again in 2021 when Newcastle attempted
to remove him as an arbitrator — one of three judges — when they
sought Premier League approval for a proposed takeover by Saudi
Arabia’s state Public Investment Fund (PIF). They argued that his
previous work for the Premier League amounted to bias — but the bid
failed, with the judgment ruling that the world of sports law was too
small to rule out arbitrators on such grounds.
“You could hardly have had a more distinguished panel with two
Supreme Court justices,” says Beloff. “I was challenged on a whole
series of grounds, none of which in the end succeeded. It just shows
how sensitive the issue of independence has become.”
Michael Beloff, right, at a cricket-related trial in 2011 (AFP via Getty Images)
In the Everton points deduction case, the club’s fans were unhappy
with the independent commission including a former West Ham
United finance director and a KC who is a member of the FA judicial
panel. But this is not seen as a problem within the industry.
“Any club allegiances — supporting Arsenal or whatever — are not
going to influence decisions,” says a lawyer who has been an
arbitrator. “Lawyers take their professional obligations quite
seriously. If anything — and it wouldn’t, but if anything — it
probably gets in the way, with people trying not to be biased.”
But it highlights just how small the field is.
Legal guides such as Legal500 and Chambers UK rate barristers and
chambers in each field and although dozens of lawyers specialise in
sport, very few are qualified to take on the most high-profile cases.
Just a handful of KCs who specialise in sports are top-rated, the
majority are London-based, and they are spread between a handful of
chambers — just three, according to one barrister. “There’s a very
small pool — possibly just three, four, maybe five individuals I’d
use,” says one solicitor. “You also know which of three or four the
other side is going to use.”
“You can’t ask (for the biggest names) in all your cases because
you’ve got to pick your battles wisely,” says another. “There’s only a
handful I’d class as absolute experts and they’re the ones I’ll go to for
the big, big cases.”
Lord Pannick is the perfect example.
Known as one of the most expensive barristers in the country,
charging a rumoured £5,000 per hour, the 67-year-old has represented
clients including former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Brexit
campaigner Gina Miller (against Johnson’s government), and former
Islamic State member Shamima Begum.
“I remember watching Lord Pannick appear in front of the Supreme
Court in the second Gina Miller trial,” says one barrister. “He rose for
his closing statement and began with, ‘I have eight points...’. He then
just made the whole thing appear so easy. That’s the mark of great
advocates — going through a mass of matter and making it perfectly
clear, making it appear so simple that it must be right.”
Generally, the top-ranked sports barristers specialise in the field, but
Pannick — known for human rights and public law — is an
exception. “Maybe he’s not just a sports lawyer, but he has done that
work,” says one solicitor. “He’s incredibly strong on his feet. His
ability to argue is so high.”
Internally, Pannick’s appointment to represent City against their
charges — all of which they strongly deny — is regarded by some at
the club as a coup. The severity of Everton’s punishment for a single
charge shows the stakes. According to one source with knowledge of
the proceedings, which could still be more than a year away from any
resolution, Pannick and City have “contested matters every step of the
way”.
City fans celebrate their new signing, Lord Pannick (James Gill/Danehouse via Getty Images)
“When you look at what Manchester City are potentially exposed to,
it’s not surprising that they regard the fact he’s representing them as
they have somehow managed to attract Lionel Messi to play for the
team,” says one KC unconnected to the case.
City’s legal team is unusual in employing two leading names.
Alongside Pannick, it includes Paul Harris KC, best known for being
taken by the Mercedes F1 team to the final race of the 2021 season in
Abu Dhabi, where he represented Sir Lewis Hamilton in the
ignominious and controversial ending to that year’s championship. He
previously acted for City when they overturned a two-year UEFA ban
from the Champions League.
“I’d prefer to arbitrate rather than be against him,” a fellow KC says
of Harris. “He’s very tough, an ex-competition lawyer, a very
aggressive guy. That’s not a bad thing. Very good for your client, no
doubt; very difficult if you’re against.”
“We instructed him not that long ago and would do so again,” says a
solicitor. “He’s bullish and aggressive, but well-regarded.”
Barristers tend to split down lines: those who represent governing
bodies and those who represent clubs and players. “If you’ve worked
for the Premier League, you can’t work for any Premier League club
half of the time,” says one leading silk — the nickname for KCs
owing to the gowns they wear in court. “They’re worried about their
secrets getting out.”
The Premier League’s go-to lawyer is Adam Lewis, who represented
it in the Everton and Manchester City cases. He no longer acts for
clubs. In his sixties, Lewis co-wrote the field’s major textbook. “His
reputation precedes him; nice, charming, disarming guy, obviously
sharp,” says one solicitor. “Very sharp.”
Lewis, second from right, at a cycling-related case in 2011 (Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty
Images)
Lewis and De Marco often find themselves in opposition. De Marco,
previously a director at west London-based EFL club Queens Park
Rangers, has represented footballers including Ivan Toney, Cristiano
Ronaldo, Harry Kane and Jordan Henderson. While Lewis has barely
any public profile, De Marco is a prolific user of social media,
displaying his photography and paintings.
“Nick is probably the most well-known (sports barrister) because he
does a lot of work in terms of promoting himself,” says one solicitor.
“And I don’t say that as a criticism, but as an observation. He’s a nice
guy, but he promotes the s**t out of himself, so literally everyone in
the sector knows him. And if you’re uninitiated to how litigation in
sports works and your first case pops up — the first person you’re
going to think about is Nick De Marco.”
“It’s a reflection of his talents,” says a rival KC. “He can maintain a
lucrative practice on the basis of quite a definite specialism — it
shows how well regarded he is.”
“Despite what you see online, he’s quiet and methodical in court,”
adds another. “He’s very tactical in his approach.”
Other big names include John Mehrzad KC, who has represented
football managers Carlo Ancelotti and Antonio Conte; James Segan
KC, who acted for Everton in their FFP case, and Ian Mill KC,
working for Mikel Arteta when the Arsenal manager had a
disciplinary proceeding against the FA. “Ian is a brilliant cross-
examiner,” says one KC. “You wouldn’t want to be on the wrong side
of him.”
The top is a male-dominated field — while just under 40 per cent of
total barristers are female, this number falls to fewer than 20 per cent
of KCs. Sports law is no different — though Jane Mulcahy KC, co-
head of Blackstone, is one notable exception. She represented
players Kieran Trippier and Daniel Sturridge in betting cases against
the FA, while she also wrote the Mulcahy Report into allegations of
sexual abuse by youth coach Barry Bennell at Manchester City.
However, there are signs this could change — according to Legal500,
four of the five top-rated junior barristers in sports law are women.
With relatively few names right at the top, the battle to secure
representation is fierce. At any given time, a Premier League football
club is just as likely to be after a top lawyer as a player.
“You want to give yourself a sense of security that you’ve got the top
barrister fighting your case,” says one lawyer. “It’s a show of teeth:
‘I’ve got a KC, who have you got?’. The judge might be more swayed
by their arguments than someone who’s slightly more junior, even if
you’re saying essentially the same thing.”
“I once had a big falling out with one club because two clubs I usually
acted for ended up suing each other,” says one silk. “I had to pick a
side — and it wasn’t theirs. For about two or three years, officials at
this club who I’d worked with very closely wouldn’t speak to me.”
Lord Pannick, pictured at a Brexit hearing in 2016, is now representing Manchester City (Dan
Kitwood via Getty Images)
To tackle the issue of lawyers within the same chambers representing
different parties, a system known as an ‘information barrier’ is used.
“When you get American clients, they just can’t understand it,” says
one lawyer. The system has a long tradition and is common practice,
with issues rarely reported. “It is fairly regular for me to get notified
by my clerk that an information barrier has gone up,” says a KC. “We
can only discuss case matters with specific clerks and they can’t speak
to certain other people.
“Anything that needs to be printed off will be physically hand-
delivered to our rooms. There’s no possibility for instructions to us to
