Leon Farr > Onside Law LLP > London, England > Lawyer Profile

Onside Law LLP
642A King’s Road
London
SW6 2DU
England

Work Department

Commercial, Corporate, Regulatory

Position

Leon advises stakeholders across the sports industry, including international federations, national governing bodies, sports teams, talent, intermediaries, brands and agencies.

Leon has particular expertise advising on the delivery and protection of major sports events, having advised FIFA, World Rugby, the ICC Cricket World Cup, ECB and FISU on bidding and hosting matters relating to their flagship competitions. Leon also has expertise in sponsorship and personal endorsement programmes, football transfers and image rights, football finance transactions, and the commercial exploitation of media rights

Leon has a wide range of in-house experience having spent two years on secondment at Lord’s Cricket Ground, where he acted as the lead lawyer for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 organising committee. In 2020, Leon spent six months on secondment with FIFA, primarily advising their sponsorship, licensing and digital teams.

Leon is also a contributing author to the comprehensive legal review: Football and the Law (2nd Ed) (Bloomsbury, 2022).

Career

2016 – Present: Partner – Onside Law

2013 – 2015: Jones Day – Associate

Education

2012 – 2013: BPP Law School (LPC)

2011 – 2012: BPP Law School (GDL)

2007 – 2010: University of Oxford (Bachelor of Arts (BA) English Language and Literature)

Lawyer Rankings

London > TMT (technology, media and telecoms) > Sport

(Next Generation Partners)

Leon FarrOnside Law LLP

Sports boutique Onside Law LLP leverages its network of offices in London, Switzerland and Australia to advise clubs, players, managers, international federations and intermediaries on both contentious and non-contentious matters. Co-founder Oliver Hunt, regularly supported by associate Robin Cumming, is a key port of call for elite golfers and footballers in need of assistance on commercial and business mandates, including sponsorship deals, media, and image rights. Hunt also assists football clubs and competition rights holders. Chris Walsh, supported by newly promoted partner Ross Brown, are key advisors for the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), working with the organisation on a range of disciplinary proceedings and investigations. Brown – alongside Jamie Singer, James Tobias and Ben Hanglin – also support governing bodies in rugby and tennis on anti-doping and anti-corruption matters that reach the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The quartet also also works with clients in rugby on sponsorship and media rights arrangements. Co-founder and head of the corporate team Simon Thorp works with legal director Harriet Leach, who is a key adviser to a number of female sporting organisations. Specialist technology and digital media practitioner Adam Leadercramer supports on sponsorship deals. Data privacy and protection expert Sophie Wilkinson supports recently promoted partner Leon Farr on instructions from world governing bodies on the hosting and bidding arrangements for major events. Contentious instructions are chiefly handled by commercial litigator Stevie Loughrey.