Jo-Anne McCartan-Cripps

Jo is a Legal Advisor at Everton Football Club. 

1. How did you first start working as a lawyer in sport? 

I was fortunate to train at a firm that offered secondments at two Premier League football clubs. In the second year of my training contract, the opportunity to go on secondment came up and I was incredibly lucky to be allocated the secondment at my preferred choice, Everton Football Club. 

My secondment was initially for a period of six months. However, I was allowed to stay on for a further six months and complete the second year of my training contract, in full, on secondment with Everton. On qualification, the Everton Legal team were looking for a junior lawyer to join their team and having been with the team for a year already, I was the successful applicant!

Luck has played a very big part in my working as a lawyer in sport and for that I am extremely grateful for the opportunity and to those who have helped me along the way. 

2. How have you found working in-house? 

Working in-house is challenging but great. Unlike private practice and other in-house roles, at Everton you get to work on a range of matters, across all areas of law, for not only the Club but also the Club’s official charity Everton in the Community (EitC) and the Everton Free School.  

EitC and the Free School’s work does so much good in the local community and to be working on matters which help achieve such positive results is inspiring and rewarding. The opportunity to play some part in adding societal value to a community as a result of legal work isn’t something many legal jobs offer. It really does make me proud to be working in sport and seeing how the power of sport can be harnessed for the greater good. 

At Everton, the Legal team sits within a wider Risk and Governance team which serves as the Club’s professional function. The Legal team is fairly small, and as a junior lawyer this has given me the development room to work on matters of a certain level that I may not have been able to work on in private practice. Additionally, sitting alongside other professionals certainly does widen your view on matters and has helped developed my commerciality. 

Not one day at Everton is the same and it is this which makes it most exciting - it certainly does keep you on your toes!

3. How does it compare to working in private practice? 

Before qualifying, I had worked in private practice for quite a few years at varying levels. It set such a solid foundation to my career which ultimately gave me the confidence to go in-house on qualification. 

The training and support in private practice, especially at the firm I trained at, was fantastic. You are surrounded by legal professionals with all levels of expertise and are guided through matters step by step. You become very familiar with the matters you work on and the legal issues concerned in the area you are working in. 

In-house you deal with all areas, so you do not necessarily specialise in a particular area of law. As an in-house lawyer you are also expected to have a good understanding of the business, its commercial drivers and current matters the business is dealing with. Not only does this require you to be much more resourceful, but your approach to a matter has to be pragmatic. As a result of this you become a well-rounded commercial lawyer, but also need to appreciate your limitations – this is where the expertise of private practice lawyers becomes important. 

4. What is the most interesting case you have worked on in sport? 

I would have to say that the most interesting project I have worked on to date is Everton Women’s move to a new purpose-built stadium at the heart of the city in Walton Hall Park, close to Goodison Park. It involved working with key stakeholders within Liverpool and the football industry on both property and commercial matters to achieve the move. 

The most exciting thing about the project is what it means, not only for Everton Women (having a designated purpose-built stadium is a massive deal) but also for Women’s football and sports generally from a grassroots perspective. 

It was a pioneering and bold move, and I hope that this gives the Everton Women’s team the platform to move on and achieve bigger and better things. Watch this space!

5. What do you see as the biggest legal challenge facing football in the near future? 

Football has had to face a number of challenges over the past few months due to coronavirus, largely around achieving a balance between industry interests, regulation and their interaction with the law. I think that whilst this is a subsisting problem, this will continue to be the biggest challenge for football in the near future. 

By way of illustration, it has been decided that for financial and sporting integrity reasons, the 2019/2020 season should be properly concluded by all outstanding matches being played. 
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This has meant that the duration of the season has been extended which has had an effect on transfers, player contracts and loans. Regulation has not previously had to legislate for such circumstances and has therefore required regulators to reactively amend and adapt the rules. As a part of this process, areas such as employer’s liability and contract law have played an integral role in the approach regulators have taken to any proposed changes of the Premier League Rules. 

Additionally, as further regulatory changes will need to be made as the League resumes to the status quo, there will be continued need for a balance to be struck to maintain the integrity of future seasons and ensure minimal unfair prejudice. 

It will be a fine balance to strike but necessary to protect future seasons and limit any litigation resulting from the virus. 

6. What qualities do you need to succeed as a sports lawyer? 

You need all the usual qualities to be a successful lawyer such as resilience, commitment, being commercially aware, resourcefulness and having a passion for your work. 

Having an industry specialism such as sport does however demand more than just the usual qualities to succeed. Sports law and its interaction with the regulatory framework can create new and unprecedented issues for its lawyers to grapple with. 

I would say that there’s a need to be creative, have a problem-solving perspective, an aptitude for understanding how regulation works alongside the law and, most importantly, have a great sense of humour so that you’ll be ready for whatever the day throws at you and be able to take this in your stride. 

7. What advice would you give to those hoping to work in sports law?

You are more likely to succeed in an area you enjoy, so my advice would be focus on areas that interest you most. 

You can specialise in any area of law and be a sports lawyer/work in sports law so you can always look at sports specific opportunities along the way once you have found what area you enjoy working in and have built a solid foundation for your career.