Sports Injury

Our team of sports lawyers are market leading in the developing and high interest area of Sports Injury, acting for professional sportsmen and women who have been injured while playing or participating, their trainers and insurers, national governing bodies, sporting associations, clubs and event and competition organisers both in the UK and overseas.

We are experienced in a wide variety of sport-related personal injury claims including those in relation to intentional or reckless challenges, career ending injuries and negligent rehabilitative treatment. We are familiar with all the issues that may arise in many disciplines including in rugby, football, cycling, motorsports, tennis, cricket, watersports, skiing, shooting, athletics, horse racing, polo and other equestrian sport. We have specialist knowledge of sports regulation in relation to these sports and in the application of statute law relating to accidents including liability and contributory negligence. We are centrally involved in both the ongoing Rugby and Football head and contact injury litigation concerning the alleged links to advanced neurological and neurodegenerative disorders such as early onset dementia, epilepsy, Motor Neurones Disease and Parkinson’s.

There is considerable overlap with our other areas of practice, and we are especially well suited to litigation which explores the interface between sporting injuries and insurance, where we are expert in recovery under insurance policies, regularly advising and appearing in cases involving complex contractual interpretation. Our barristers are also particularly adept at dealing with professional negligence claims arising in sporting context, representing the professional indemnity insurers of sporting bodies as well as individuals themselves in relation to clinical negligence and veterinary negligence claims for the substandard treatment of injury. Other inter-related areas of expertise include and private international law, where claims of a cross border nature arise, and product liability.

We are also experienced in dealing with an increasing number of injury disputes arising in sport undertaken for pleasure as well as competition, especially in accidents relating to snow sports, diving, cycling and recreational horse riding. It follows that our excellent knowledge of private international law is highly sought after for those accidents that occur abroad with particular emphasis on skiing, snowboarding and other extreme sports.

We regularly speak and publish articles on Sports Law topics and work closely with LawInSport, an educational media business which provides expert commentary and analysis on the latest legal issues and developments in sport. A number of us are regularly involved in broadcasting and publishing, including for BBC’s Law in Action, The Times Law Section, New Law Journal, All England Opinion and BBC radio.

Further information on our broader sports practice including informational on our commercial, employment, disciplinary and regulatory experience in this sector is available on the sport page.