James Earl

Corporate, Sports Business Group

I lead the Fladgate’s Commercial, Sports & IP team. I have extensive experience in working with the full spectrum of stakeholders across an array of issues in the broad sports field, including national and international governing bodies, funders/investors, teams and clubs alongside rights holders, brands and agencies.

I originally trained in South Australia and qualified as a tax lawyer, before moving into work in the sports sector which was cemented by moving to a UK sports law practice in 2005. This was my attempt to mix something I loved with a day job and, some two decades later, it has been a very exciting ride and is a decision I never regret.

Working in sport as a lawyer means that your horizon is unlimited in terms of opportunity and work types and it must be one of the fastest changing industries I know of. Probably the greatest part is that my clients are extremely passionate about what they do and why they do it and this genuinely makes concluding deals and solving problems for them all the more satisfying. Sports law is also very multifaceted, meaning that there many legal disciplines involved. To that end, I’ve only ever been able to achieve success by having a lot of talented people around me and that is a key reason why Fladgate has been a great home for me from day one.

Geelong Church of England Grammar School (Victorian Certificate of Education) (1996); University of Adelaide, Bachelor of Arts (International Relations) (2001), Bachelor of Law (Honours) (2003); Law Society of South Australia, Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice (2003)