Joel Leigh

Joel Leigh is a Partner at Howard Kennedy, specialising in commercial and professional negligence claims. Joel possesses particular expertise in advising on sports disputes and has been recognised as a “key lawyer” in Howard Kennedy’s Sports team by The Legal 500.[1]
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1) When did you start working as a lawyer in sport? 

Around the turn of the millennia, a consultant working at my then firm was acting for a Premier League club on various property matters. The work grew exponentially when, a few years later, it decided to redevelop its stadium. Whenever a commercial dispute arose, it made sense for us to advise on those matters also, so it grew from there. My first case concerned a dispute with the FA, when a high-profile player was seriously injured whilst away on international duty. The instructions quickly branched out to include a range of contractual disputes between players, agents and their various business partners, then into the world of Cricket, Equestrian, F1, Gymnastics, Rugby, and beyond. 

2) What areas of sports law interest you the most? 

An important and growing area concerns safeguarding and welfare, including allegations of the abuse and mistreatment of athletes. At Howard Kennedy we've been involved in a number of recent and high-profile cases, advising on a full media response strategy and responses to such allegations, including full investigations and dealing where necessary with resulting disputes. Another is Esports, which has exploded onto the scene in recent years, generating a huge amount of revenue via online gambling and other sponsorship deals. It has a reach equal to and in some cases exceeding traditional sports, so is a massive growth area. 

3) Please can you describe a case that you have worked on in sport?

I find that the resolution of most cases in the sports world are wrapped up with wide-ranging confidentiality clauses which prevent detailed discussion, but recent examples have ranged from a substantial sponsorship dispute with a leading Formula 1 team, through disciplinary proceedings arising out of the Esports scene including resultant litigation, to a high-profile FA Rule K arbitration.

4) What is your proudest professional achievement? 

For me the most satisfying moments are when a case ends and you feel that you've made a real difference. For example, I represented one client who'd lost his F1 sports hospitality business, as a result of suffering a really serious and unprovoked assault and the family of another, who had been killed during a professional powerboat race, where the safety measures taken had been inadequate. In both cases we went on to recover around £1,000,000 in damages.   

5) What are some of the challenges of working in the sports industry?

The personalities involved can on occasion be challenging, if only because of their inherently competitive nature! It also tends to be an extremely high-profile and fast-moving industry, so you need to be nimble on your feet and ready to embrace unconventional approaches and ideas, to achieve your client's objectives. It's also something of a 24-hour job, so you're always on call and need to be prepared for that. 

6) What is the best piece of career advice that you have been given?

That pressure makes diamonds! Working on extremely heavy and challenging cases, early on in your professional career, can seem like a nightmare at the time. But the experience stands you in great stead as you develop, as well as providing an insight into the kind of day-to-day challenges faced by sports professionals. 

7) What advice would you give to aspiring sports lawyers?

In the words of Roger Federer, "there is no way around hard work. Embrace it." There are so many lawyers looking to make a name for themselves in the industry that you can't play at the job. Also and of course, there is really no such thing as "sports law", rather it's an amalgam of talents. Some of these are purely legal, others require good business, communication or social skills. So I would say that anyone aspiring to work in the sphere should first get a good understanding of a range of legal work, with a variety of clients and across a spectrum of different matters, both contentious and non-contentious. 

8) Please can you describe a typical day in your life?

I'm not sure there is such a thing as a typical day in law anymore, especially now that we're no longer tied to our office desks. If I'm working from home, I try to start each morning with an hour’s walk around Hampstead Heath, if not it will be a 45-minute commute to our offices at No.1 London Bridge. 

Beyond that, I find that every day is different; sometimes I find myself locked away drafting a heavy witness statement or submission, on others it will be with exciting potential clients and business development; sports law is a highly competitive industry and it's important to keep both your name and the Howard Kennedy brand in the spotlight.  

I keep my hand in with a range of other work, spanning civil fraud, professional negligence and partnership/shareholding disputes; as I've said above all of these are relevant to the day-to-day life of a sports lawyer, so most days are pretty packed.

Then it's back home for some family time, any late-night emails allowing!  

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[1] https://www.legal500.com/c/london/tmt-technology-media-and-telecoms/sport/