Law firm launches sports division as part of national sector specialism strategy

O’Connors, the Liverpool and London-based law firm, has launched a specialist sports division following a significant rise in sport-related business transactions and the success of its national legal services and financial services sector strategy.

The new sports team, led by Associate lawyer Philip Bowers, is focusing on providing corporate, commercial, insurance and regulatory advice to amateur and professional sports clubs, sports players and athletes, sport-related technology and wellbeing businesses and governing bodies.

Recent sports clients include global sporting goods retailer Decathlon UK, elite athlete performance testing software house The Edge, global football investors Right To Dream, sport sponsors Anexo Group, and New Brighton RUFC, one of the country’s oldest rugby union clubs.

Philip Bowers said: “We serve those individuals and businesses who need the highest quality legal and regulatory advice, whether they are at the grass-roots of amateur sport or the top echelons of professional sport.

“The business of sport is evolving rapidly as the boundaries between sport, entertainment and wellbeing become blurred and e-sports and AI-driven fitness tools draw in new participants and audiences.”

He added: “This presents us with an opportunity to apply our legal project management expertise in helping innovators in the sport sector to achieve their ambitions, wherever in the world they are doing business.”

O’Connors CEO, David Malone, said: “Our success in attracting legal services and financial services clients from across the UK and beyond has given us the confidence to invest in our sports sector team and recruit new members with skills to take advantage of our strategy of sector specialisation.

“In the last 12 months we have recruited three experienced solicitors and two trainee solicitors, all of whom are actively engaged in helping us deliver our vision of being market leaders in our chosen fields.”

O’Connors was founded in 2003 and comprises more than 20 lawyers and support staff, with more appointments in the pipeline.