9 Gough Square

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Section: Practice Areas

Sport 9 Gough Square provides a comprehensive legal service to sporting bodies, organisations and clubs, as well as to individual sportsmen and women. Chambers brings a substantial depth of knowledge and expertise to bear on a wide range of sporting disputes and issues. The following examples serve to illustrate the wide range of areas covered: challenges to, or defences to, actions of or by, sports governing bodies, Human Rights issues, individual athletes’ issues and sports club issues such as contract disputes, discrimination and general criminal law issues arising both on and off the ‘field of play’, representation at regulatory and disciplinary hearings, Personal Injury claims and defences and Health and Safety issues. Chambers’ sports law practitioners also offer accredited mediation and arbitration skills.

Joseph Giret QC

Joseph is a gifted adversarial lawyer with significant expertise in testing evidence in courtrooms through his experience of litigating in high-profile and serious criminal trials. His special interest and exposure to sport law is rooted in his love of sport, in which he has participated at the highest levels. Joseph has experience of working in the civil forum as well as criminal, and regularly appears in regulatory and disciplinary tribunals. He also gives talks and lectures on specific areas of sport law, and is an accredited practitioner able to offer services direct to clients [Licensed access], and to mediate in disputes.

Grahame Aldous QC

Grahame holds a DoT/RYA Yachtmaster certificate and is a member of the Royal Ocean Racing Club. He is a former instructor at the National Sailing Centre, Cowes. His race credits include racing round Cape Horn in the Whitbread Round the World Yacht Race, Fastnets, RORC and EAORA Race series, St Maartens Heineken Regatta, and Swan Worlds and European Championships. He has chaired IYRU Protests committees and acted in numerous yachting claims from seriously injured crew members to complaints about RYA Sailing School registration. He is the Co-author of Work Accidents at Sea and has written and lectured on numerous related subjects including marine limitation, insurance and piracy, and the work of the Admiralty Court. Other sporting interests include Rugby, Fencing, Riding and Skiing. Grahame has particular experience and expertise in dealing with cross-jurisdictional disputes arising from accidents abroad, including incidents such as the fatal Aero Grand Prix crash in Malta and numerous sports related Package Tour Regulation and Athens Convention claims.

Fred Ferguson

Fred has defended in cases involving assaults on football and rugby pitches by players against other players during the course of matches. A qualified RFU coach, Fred also has a knowledge of both rugby and football as a former player. Such knowledge has assisted him in analysing what might be considered permissible as opposed to unlawful conduct.

He is available to appear at disciplinary hearings on behalf of club players.

Rajeev Shetty

Rajeev has been involved in a number of sports injury cases in rugby, football, hockey and golf. He has provided lectures to various firms of solicitors on sports injury law and has a special interest in this field.

Rajeev previously participated (without much skill but with endeavour) in football and rugby. He plays golf off a handicap of 10.

Tim Godfrey

Tim has a background in criminal law, but also experience in a range of disciplinary and other tribunals allied to a long standing interest in sport related issues.

Tim also undertakes judicial review work, and is very well-versed in the arguments as to procedural fairness, natural justice and the like which are deployed in sports disciplinary proceedings.

He has an established expertise in licensing work and proceedings for ‘preventative orders’, including football banning orders, both at first instance and on appeal. These cases often concern consideration as to the necessity for, and proportionality of, prohibitions that the court is asked to make.

Simon Brindle

Simon undertakes personal injury work in all areas of Sports Law. He has acted for Claimants in a number of ‘dangerous tackle’ cases, and successfully pursued claims against sport facilities for dangerous design and layout of sports grounds.

Giles Mooney

Personal Injury: Giles is regularly instructed on behalf of claimants injured in the course of sporting activities. This has involved footballers, golfers and cricketers. It is however, in the field of equestrian sport that Giles has a developed a particular niche. Giles acts for both claimants and defendants in cases involving injuries sustained in the course of equestrian sport. His cases range from professional riders (jockeys, show jumpers and dressage riders) to amateur fun riders. At present Giles is involved in High Court case involving a jockey injured by the alleged negligence of another jockey in the course of a race.

Disciplinary: Giles regularly acts for riders in disciplinary proceedings brought by the various governing sporting bodies (British Eventing, British Show Jumping Association and British Dressage) and advised on appeals to the FEI and Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Contract: Giles has an established practice acting for claimants and defendants in cases involving the sale of high value livestock and the related issues.

Shahram Sharghy

Shahram was called to the Bar in 2000 and joined Chambers in 2001. He is a keen sportsman with a particular talent at football. He gained a ‘Blue’ at Cambridge as a result of taking part in the Varsity football match. Over the years Shahram has taken a keen interest in dealing with clients injured as a result of undertaking sporting activities or as a result of not being able to undertake work as a sportsman/woman. He is also interested in the criminal and regulatory aspects of sport, such as incidents involving the playing of sport which leads to injury or criminal prosecution as well as doping and other regulatory matters. Shahram’s experience of appearing in criminal and civil courts as well as presenting cases to tribunals give him a unique advantage when appearing in sports related matters due to his knowledge of practice and procedure in those arenas. He undertakes instructions both on behalf of claimants/prosecution authorities and defendants and applies an approach and style which is geared towards an in-depth understanding of amateur and professional sports”

Al Hogarth

Al was called to the Bar in 2005 and joined chambers following pupillage in 2006. Al has always been a keen sportsman competitively enjoying a wide range of activities ranging from martial arts to more traditional pursuits such as rugby and cricket. As a common law practitioner Al has experience of criminal and civil courts as well as a variety of tribunals, giving him the advantage of the versatitility required to appear in sports related matters. Al’s particular interest is motor sport, having been a keen follower throughout his life. His interest ranges from the conduct of drivers to cases involving the actions of marshals and the organisation of events.

Ed Lamb

Ed frequently acts on behalf of injured sportsmen and women. Ed also remains a keen rugby player and has worked for a number of professional and amateur rugby clubs. Through this work Ed has obtained a unique insight into the pressures and requirements of those involved in sport. Within Ed’s multi-disciplinary practice he specialises in employment law: frequently dealing with contractual disputes and appearing at tribunal. This breadth of practice places him well to deal with the diverse legal issues arising in the world of sport.

Click here to view our barristers working in the area of Sport and to see details of notable Clinical Negligence cases undertaken by each barrister.