Department profile
Northridge

Sport

UK Guide 2026 : UK-wide

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Northridge

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About

Provided by Northridge

Northridge is an independent law firm that focuses on the most complex and important matters in sport. Founded in 2017, it has already established itself as the firm the sports industry turns to when the stakes are highest. As Europe’s largest sports practice, the firm offers a unique combination of scale and expertise, providing the depth required to staff the largest and most demanding projects.

Chambers Review

Provided by Chambers

Sport - UK-wide

Band 1

What the Team is Known For

Northridge has an outstanding team with a wide range of experience advising on high-profile contentious and non-contentious matters in football, rugby union and motorsport, among others. It has a respected track record of acting for governing bodies, sports clubs and athletes on a range of mandates including regulatory enforcement, appeals processes and independent reviews. It is also active on commercial contracts, sponsorship and marketing instructions, with an increasingly established presence in the sports technology sphere.

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Work Highlights

Provided by Chambers

  • Northridge acted as the lead adviser for the Football Association on the transfer of its ownership of the top two tiers of women's professional football in England to a Premier League-style shareholder model under a new independent company, Women's Professional Leagues Limited.

Strengths

Provided by Chambers

  • Northridge have extensive knowledge in both the sports industry and the corporate legal world. They are also genuinely lovely, smart people and an absolute pleasure to work with.

    Sport respondentUK

  • They are a niche sports firm with Magic Circle-type service and expertise. They are always ready to provide creative solutions that continue to protect the interests of our business.

    Sport respondentUK

  • Northridge provide brilliant legal support and advice while having a deep and expert understanding of the realities of the professional sports industry. They are first class.

    Sport respondentUK

  • Northridge have the specialist expertise which we need to ensure we receive advice which is tailored to the unique needs of the industry. They are responsive and reliable when key issues arise.

    Sport respondentUK

  • A committed team who know the client and the business, with a personalised approach and excellent leadership from the partners. They are knowledgeable, pragmatic and always at the end of the phone.

    Sport respondentUK

Notable Practitioners

Provided by Chambers

  • Ian Lynam
    Ian Lynam

    Ian Lynam

    Ian Lynam is renowned for his work assisting leading sports clients with the full range of transactional and regulatory activity including financial regulation, M&A, and players' transfers and contracts. He also has a strong focus on the use of sports data.

    • Ian is first class.

      Sport respondentUK

    • Ian has a broad skill set. A man who wears a coat of many colours, he's well regarded.

      Sport respondentUK

    • Ian is well known in the industry, a trusted name with lots of experience.

      Sport respondentUK
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  • Jonathan Ellis
    Jonathan Ellis

    Jonathan Ellis

    Jonathan Ellis offers clubs and governing bodies the benefit of his great depth of expertise and experience in significant contentious issues and regulatory proceedings.

    • Jon is our go-to adviser on complex matters. He is an expert in his field and highly responsive; he completely understands the sector and the complexities of it.

      Sport respondentUK

    • Jon is an outstanding lawyer who gives expert advice in a clear and trusted way.

      Sport respondentUK
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  • James Eighteen
    James Eighteen

    James Eighteen

    James Eighteen continues to impress market commentators with his work on regulatory enforcement and investigations across a variety of sports.

    • He was a very calm head in some quite stressful circumstances.

      Sport respondentUK

    • James is a brilliant litigator and provides considered and trusted advice.

      Sport respondentUK

    • He gives consistently sound advice, and you feel comfortable and confident in the advice you're receiving.

      Sport respondentUK
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  • Jon Walters
    Jon Walters

    Jon Walters

    Jon Walters advises sports clients on corporate transactional work, governance and sponsorship agreements. His clients include investors, sports agencies and regulatory bodies.

    • His key strengths are being really diligent, responsive, measured and calm. He thinks of everything.

      Sport respondentUK

    • Jon is a top-notch lawyer who knows our business well.

      Sport respondentUK

    • Jon is always calm, pragmatic and often brings an angle that others haven't otherwise spotted. Jon is responsive, engaged and always at the end of the phone to bounce ideas off.

      Sport respondentUK

    • Jon's experience is hard to match; he knows a huge amount about the industry and a lot on the investment side, but also the general sports side. He's very thoughtful, and I love working with him.

      Sport respondentUK
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  • Paul Shapiro
    Paul Shapiro

    Paul Shapiro

    Paul Shapiro advises household-name sector clients on all manner of commercial and corporate arrangements and regulatory matters. He is particularly experienced with regard to sponsorship, media rights, events and talent work.

    • I think he's the best external solicitor I've ever dealt with. He gets it and presents things in an easy-to-understand, user-friendly way. He's good with billing. I couldn't speak more highly of him.

      Sport respondentUK

    • Paul is always the point of contact if I need help. He has been in the sector for a long time so I trust his industry experience and technical abilities. You always feel in safe hands with him.

      Sport respondentUK
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  • Oliver Harland
    Oliver Harland

    Oliver Harland

    Oliver Harland is primarily a litigator who supports clients in several strands of sports law, such as contentious and non-contentious regulatory, image rights and talent work.

    • Oliver is a brilliant young lawyer.

      Sport respondentUK

    • With Oliver you can pick up the phone and talk about anything at any time. He's very knowledgeable in the sporting arena.

      Sport respondentUK
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Ranked Individuals at Northridge (6)

UK-wide

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Provided by Northridge

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