sports individuals you have our whole team behind you
Did you know? • Structuring your contract to protect your image rights offshore can save you a lot of money • Making sure you have a non-disclosure agreement in place before revealing any private and confidential information helps your secrets stay secret • If you get a criminal conviction in any country, it can cause you problems with future international travel. If you’re at risk of arrest, you need advice straight away • If you are getting married, you should consider either a prenuptial or postnuptial agreement to protect your assets in the event of a future marriage breakdown.
“Sporting individuals need robust advice to help them navigate through the intricacies of their professional and personal life. Both the individuals and those that represent them need to be well informed about legal issues and have a supporting team who understand the challenges they face, put protections in place for them and are there to fight their corner should things go wrong.� Sue Thackeray, Partner Howard Kennedy
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The game plan “ Personal challenges, such as separation, divorce, cohabitation agreements and child-related matters, can take their toll on sports stars. The management of their current and future investments and assets too, such as how to structure trusts, wills and estate planning, can cause further concerns. Sports professionals are not invincible. They are just as vulnerable in the real world as they are on the sports field. As in sport though, they are not alone. They have a team – of agents, advisers and lawyers to support them – on whom they can rely on until the final whistle” Lois Langton, Partner, Howard Kennedy
Team talk Professional sportsmen and women enter competition with careful preparation and a tactical plan. It comes as no surprise then that they should adopt the same approach to their non-sporting life too. Negotiating contracts and commercial agreements, protecting privacy, managing personal relationships and family needs and dealing with legal challenges are often seen as irritants or distractions from their professional goals. But, irritating as they are, they are vital for the well-being of the sporting individual. They ensure that the commitment and sacrifices that professionals make for their sports continue to be rewarded well beyond their sporting career.
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Our services From turning professional and agreeing contracts through to building a brand, negotiating image rights, moving to a new team and setting up commercial agreements, we provide legal advice for the whole sporting career. If the worst should happen, we guide our clients through challenges with injury, disciplinary procedures, criminal allegations, employment claims and disputes. The sporting career can be short, and we will help to plan for a life beyond sporting success, whether that is negotiating commentator contracts, advertising or sponsorship packages, moving into management or coaching, or setting up a brand new business.
Our priority is to protect professional careers and personal interests. The highprofile, high-earning nature of sports professionals means they need just as much support off the field or track as they do on it. Our renowned team is able to assist clients with relationships, divorce, estate planning, trusts, business ventures, personal investments, wealth protection, wills, real estate, tax and much more.
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Loyal supporters Sports managers and agents know that the modern athlete is a high-maintenance professional. They need dedication, determination and decisiveness to reach – and maintain – the very highest levels of performance in their sport. Off the track or field sports professionals face tough challenges that require a team of expert advisers to help overcome them. Sporting talent operates in a complicated legal world that, without the proper expertise, can affect their professional performance as well their personal life. Issues such as commercial contracts, image rights and ownership, personal injury and sporting disputes – like allegations of rulebreaking, corruption or doping – need to be given as much attention as personal issues, including children and relationships, reputation management, wealth protection, tax and preparing for life once their competitive career is over.
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Sportsmen and women and those who represent them need legal advice at various points throughout their sporting lives. They need lawyers who understand, not only the law, but how it works for their clients in sport and the wider commercial context. We will work as hard on the preparation and the tactics as our clients. This ensures that sporting talent can remain focussed on their professional success, safe in the knowledge that they and their family’s wellbeing is protected.
Key contacts
Chamber 2014 Lois Langton “is ‘knowledgeable and detailsfocused’ and a ‘strong negotiator, while polite and courteous’.”
Lois Langton Partner: Joint Head of Sport T: +44 (0)20 3755 5559 E: lois.langton@howardkennedy.com
Sue Thackeray “she has fantastic client care skills, with additional commercial and strategic savvy.” Robert Lands is “extremely detailed knowledge” and that he is “good at giving off-the-cuff advice.” Sources appreciate his endeavours to understand their businesses and tailor his advice accordingly. John Annetts continues to impress sources with his expertise in probate, wills and trusts. Commentators say: “He is very able and will always give solid, practical advice.”
Fiona Hinds Senior Associate: Joint Head of Sport T: +44 (0)20 3755 5508 E: fiona.hinds@howardkennedy.com Team members John Annetts Brian Eagles Craig Emden Howard Goulden Michael Harris Julian Hindmarsh Robert Lands Ian Ryan Sue Thackeray
No.1 London Bridge London SE1 9BG DX 144370 Southwark 4 Tel: +44 (0)20 3755 6000 Fax: +44 (0)20 3650 7000 www.howardkennedy.com