Grahame Anderson

Grahame Anderson is a barrister at Littleton Chambers, specialising in Employment and Sport. Additionally, Grahame sits as a part-time Employment Judge. Grahame’s experience includes acting for a major sports global agency against its former MD in FA Rule K Arbitration, acting for a Premier League player in a claim brought by a former agent, and acting for a rugby player accused of doping. Indeed, Graham’s considerable Sport experience has seen him be recognised by both the Legal 500 and Chambers directories.  

1. When did you first come across “sports law”? 

I did my pupillage at Littleton Chambers from 2013-14. Littleton has long been one of the few sets at the Bar (there are probably only two) where it is possible to have a real focus on sports law and so it was inevitable that I would get drawn in to cases that more senior people were doing.

2. What makes working in the sports industry unique?  

There is all manner of things about the sports world that set it apart from the other industries I work in. In a technical sense, the sports industry has all manner of esoteric jurisdictions under the umbrellas of the various sporting bodies that give rise to all sorts of curiosities. But I think what marks it out for me is working day-in/day-out with people who have a sporting / high-performance mindset.

3. What is your proudest professional achievement to date? 

Hard to say (especially given how much of our work is confidential!). I acted for the former head coach of an Olympic team who had been accused – wrongfully – of quite serious misconduct and got an excellent result for her: that was quite something. I have also acted on a number of occasions for the football club I have followed since I was a kid – a close second to playing for them, maybe!

4. What advice would you give to aspiring sports lawyers? 

I think the advice for anyone who wants to work as a barrister in the sports world is the same for anyone who wants to do commercial work at the Bar: get the best degree you can and develop your analytical mind. Then you can pivot into sports work. 

5. Please can you describe a typical day in your life? 

One of the fun things about this sort of work is that there’s no typical day.

On a day when I’m not in court, I will invariably be in chambers juggling sets of papers with incoming urgent calls on cases or deals that are in the offing (especially in the later stages of the football transfer window). 

If I am in court, I try to block out everything else, get up early and get myself in the zone. One of the nice things about the sports world is that the lawyers involved are invariably very practical and commercial people but almost without exception very nice. I suppose we all know we’re lucky to even be involved, so there’s no point being unpleasant!