Business & Commercial Disputes

Partner - Litigation and Investigations

Mr. Young has broad experience in commercial litigation disputes involving a wide variety of subject matters.  A number of those cases have attracted significant national attention including:

Construction Disputes – e.g., representing the owner of the Staples Center in a nine figure delay damage dispute with the project architect and general contractor; representing ARCO in a nine figure dispute with Bechtel arising out of delays in the fabrication of an oil and gas processing plant in Washington state for shipment to the north slope of Alaska.

Not-for-Profit Organizations – e.g., successful representation of Young Life and the YMCA of the Rockies in separate cases before the Colorado Supreme Court which established precedent for expanding the religious worship exemption from property taxation both in Colorado and nationally.

Natural Gas Litigation – e.g., represented a number of natural gas producers in disputes with pipelines in the early phases of the national “take or pay” litigation.

Mr. Young served for several years as Chair of the Firm’s Commercial Litigation Practice Group.

Since the mid-1980’s Mr. Young’s practice has been increasingly focused on working with sport organizations.  Representative clients have included for example:  the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee; most of the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee National Governing Bodies; several International Federations in the Olympic Movement; Ironman; the PGA Tour; LPGA Tour; ATP Tour; NCAA; Major league Baseball; National Basketball Association; National Football Foundation; Mountain West Conference; Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference; Big Sky Conference; several NCAA Division 1 Universities; World Anti-Doping Agency; United States Anti-Doping Agency; Dutch Anti-Doping Agency; Australia Anti-Doping Authority and Sport Integrity Australia.  Occasionally, Mr. Young has represented high profile athletes in commercial matters – e.g., Missy Franklin.

The range of sport related matters in which Mr. Young has been involved is extensive including anti-doping rules and cases (see attachment A); SafeSport rules and cases (see attachment B); sponsorship disputes; media rights disputes; venue construction and operation; membership and privacy issues; personnel matters; COVID related force majeure and team/conference quarantine rules; athlete eligibility and team selection; trademark, licensing and other matters related to Intellectual Property protection; disciplinary rules and enforcement; exit fees and collegiate conference realignment.

Mr. Young’s skills as an advocate were showcased in the Floyd Landis arbitration, a nine-day trial conducted in the Pepperdine School of Law moot courtroom. The trial was broadcast live over the Internet, with a live network feed providing excerpts for a number of national newscasts. The hearing was attended by hundreds of observers, including media from around the world.  At the conclusion of the trial, a feature article in USA Today quoted a Wisconsin judge who had been an observer throughout the trial and who frequently blogged in support of the Landis case, as saying, “Young is the best lawyer I have ever seen . . . . [the clients] sure got their money’s worth.”

Attachment A

Richard Young CV Anti-Doping

Mr. Young is recognized worldwide as a leader in the anti-doping field.  He was the principal draftsman of the original World Anti-Doping Code and all of the subsequent Code amendments.  He also presented the Code at the last four World Conferences on Doping in Sport between 2000-2020.  He has participated in more than 100 high-profile anti-doping cases, either as a lawyer or as a CAS arbitrator.

Examples of Anti-Doping Experience

Drafted anti-doping rules for: World Anti-Doping Agency (“WADA”); the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (“USADA”); the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (“ASADA”); the International Olympic Committee (“IOC”), the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (“USOPC”) and numerous International Federations and National Governing Bodies; the PGA TOUR; the LPGA TOUR and Ironman. Represented anti-doping agencies/sport organizations or athletes in close to 100 cases before the Court of Arbitration for Sport; the American Arbitration Association, McLaren Global Sports Solutions, U.S. Federal Courts, and International Federation and Sport disciplinary panels. Served as a Court of Arbitration for Sport arbitrator, including service on the ad hoc Panels for the Sydney and Nagano Olympic Games. Served as Chair of several arbitration panels for either the ATP Tour or International Tennis Federation. Past member of the WADA Foundation Board. Current member of the WADA Legal Committee/Working Group from inception. Current member of the WADA ad hoc Contaminants Working Group from inception. Member of the WADA drafting team for the last several versions of the International Standard for Laboratories. Presented the International Standard for Laboratories at the 2014 and 2020 World Conferences on Doping in Sport. Counsel to the McLaren Russian investigation. Past Chair of the International Weightlifting Federation Clean Sport Commission 2017-2018. Past Chair, International Weightlifting Member Federation Sanctions Panel 2019-2020. Counsel to Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority in its Weightlifting investigation and Rugby and Australian Rules Football investigations. Currently serving as counsel to Sport Integrity Australia. Co-Vice Chair of the WADA Independent Observer Team for the Vancouver Olympic Games. Legal Advisor to the Pan American Games Medical Commission for the 2003, 2007, and 2011 Pan American Games. Invited presenter at dozens of national and international conferences involving doping in sport.

Attachment B

Richard Young CV SafeSport

 Mr. Young has been involved in drafting and enforcing SafeSport rules for sport organizations, religious organizations and schools since the late 1990s.  His considerable experience representing sport organizations in the SafeSport Space includes:

Drafting SafeSport rules and serving as an advisor for the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee, National Governing Bodies, and other sport organizations. Conducting investigations and prosecuting more than 100 sexual misconduct and other SafeSport disciplinary cases for United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee and National Governing Bodies. These cases were heard before a combination of internal sport organization disciplinary panels, the American Arbitration Association and U.S. Federal Courts. Drafting the initial policies and procedures for the U.S. Center for SafeSport. Serving as an advisor for newly formed Sport Integrity Australia whose mandate includes anti-doping, SafeSport and match fixing. CIVIC INVOLVEMENT & HONORS Mr. Young has been nationally-recognized as a “Leader in His Field” in Bands 1 or 2 for Sports Law Athletic Disputes, by Chambers USA, for the last decade. Member of the Law Dragon Top 500 Lawyers in the country. Ranked as one of the top sports lawyers in the country by the Sports Business Journal Awarded Colorado Law Week’s Lawyer of the Year (with his Landis trial team) and Best Sports Lawyer. Rated by Super Lawyers as a Colorado Super Lawyer.