Brianna Quinn > Bird & Bird > Sydney, Australia > Lawyer Profile
Bird & Bird Offices

Level 22
25 Martin Place
Sydney NSW 2000
Australia
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Brianna Quinn

Work Department
Commercial
Position
Partner
Career
I am a partner in our Sydney office, working in the Media, Entertainment and Sports group.
I provide specialist advice and represent sports clients in a wide range of matters, in particular when it comes to their regulatory, integrity, governance, and contractual affairs.
Working alongside Rich Hawkins, our Sydney team provides a full-service offering for all sports commercial and regulatory/contentious matters, servicing clients in Australia, the Asia-Pacific region, and further internationally. I also work closely with our market leading sports team in London on their international matters.
Prior to joining Bird & Bird, I worked for many years at a leading arbitration firm in Geneva. Located in the international sports hub of Switzerland, I advised numerous international federations as well as elite level athletes, clubs, and other sports bodies and individuals. As part of that work, I appeared regularly before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, as well as other international sports tribunals.
I have significant experience with sport regulatory, governance, and contentious matters, including (for example) anti-doping, anti-corruption and match-fixing, safeguarding, other misconduct, and best practice in governance. I have assisted clients at each stage of the legal process, from the drafting and day to day implementation of their regulations, to the enforcement of (and challenges to) such regulations. When it comes to sports clients, I believe we should proactively implement practices and procedures to protect the integrity, reputation, and interests of not only the governing bodies in question, but of all the stakeholders who invest so much time and passion into their respective sports.
In addition to my counsel work, I sit as a permanent arbitrator on the closed list of the Basketball Arbitral Tribunal (BAT), where I resolve contractual claims between international basketball stakeholders. I am a member of the Ethics Board of the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF), a Director of the Australian and New Zealand Sports Law Association (ANSZLA), and a member of the editorial board of the LawInSport international sports law publication. I am co-author or editor of several publications concerning international sports arbitration and regularly speak at sports law conferences and deliver lectures for university and post-graduate legal programs.
As a dual Australian and Swiss citizen, I speak English and French, and also have a basic knowledge of Spanish.
Admissions
- Law Society of New South Wales, Australia in 2007
Languages
English and French, basic knowledge of Spanish
Education
- 2011 LL.M International Sports Law, Instituto Superior de Derecho y Economia, Spain
- 2007 LL.B (Hons), University of Canberra, Australia
- 2004 BASc, Sports Management, University of Canberra, Australia
Lawyer Rankings
Australia > Media and entertainment
Bird & Bird is regularly engaged by social media platforms, gaming companies, media conglomerates, and international sports federations. The team’s broad expertise includes privacy, defamation, contempt, licensing, and marketing and advertising laws, with strong capabilities in pre-publication advice. Shane Barber advises global businesses on media law aspects and supports video game clients with regulatory issues. Julie Cheeseman specialises in handling contentious matters, compulsory processes, and pre-publication advice. Rich Hawkins brings deep expertise in high-value sports media rights transactions. Brianna Quinn is instrumental in maintaining the firm’s prominent standing in the sports sector, but the team suffered a blow when Sophie Dawson departed in May 2024.
Australia > Dispute resolution: litigation
The dispute resolution team at Bird & Bird handles a range of services for leading clients, from disputes for technology companies to arbitration proceedings for international sports clients and institutions, and contentious matters affecting the communications and life sciences sectors, among others. The firm benefits from the cross-border collaboration between its Australia and London teams on a number of cases, making it well placed to assist clients in multiple time zones. Jonathon Ellis is experienced in corporate and commercial disputes, and Julie Cheeseman assists clients in the technology and telecoms sectors. Other key individuals include Jane Owen, Brianna Quinn and Rebecca Currey.
Australia > Dispute resolution: arbitration
(Firms to watch)The dispute resolution and media, entertainment and sport practice at Bird & Bird works closely with its counterparts in the London office in international sports arbitration and dispute resolution matters before the Court of Arbitration. Key names include Brianna Quinn, who joined the firm from the Swiss arbitration firm Lévy Kaufmann-Kohler in mid-2023, and Jonathon Ellis, who leads the dispute resolution team.
Lawyer Rankings
- Media and entertainment Australia
- Dispute resolution: litigation Australia
- Firms to watch Australia > Dispute resolution: arbitration