United Kingdom - Scotland • TMT (technology, media and telecoms)
Addleshaw Goddard
Renowned for its football sector capabilities, Addleshaw Goddard is a regular advisor to major Scottish and international clubs, individuals and governing bodies on a range of contentious and non-contentious sporting mandates, including season ticket finance. Seasoned litigator Simon Catto often acts for players and clubs in contractual disputes, while Helena Brown concentrates on commercial and regulatory issues, which has involved supporting high-profile clients undergoing digital transformation post-pandemic. Solicitor advocate Erin Grieve, promoted to managing associate in September 2022, is also active on the contentious side, representing clubs and bodies in court hearings and arbitrations. Catto and Brown jointly spearhead the Edinburgh-based practice.
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Key clients
- Celtic Football Club
- The Scottish Football Association
- St Mirren Football Club
- Motherwell Football Club
- Kilmarnock Football Club
- Heart of Midlothian Football Club
- Sheffield Steelers
- Scottish Ice Hockey
- Hibernian Football Club
- Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA)
Work highlights
- Successfully defending a claim raised against Heart of Midlothian Football Club by Dundee United Football Club following the transfer of Lewis Neilson.
- Acting for St Mirren Football Club in a FIFA-related arbitration involving the transfer of free-agent Ryan Strain.
- Advised Hibernian Football Club on its agreement with principal catering partner, Elior. This involved negotiating, reviewing and drafting the contract governing the catering offering at Easter Road.
Lawyers
Rising stars
Leading individuals
Simon is head of the dispute resolution team in Scotland and a solicitor advocate. He regularly handles complex and high value cases in both Sheriff Court and the Court of Session with a particular focus on commercial, contractual, insolvency and sports related disputes. Simon specialises in the full range of commercial, contractual and insolvency disputes. His clients range from insolvency practitioners, banks and public limited companies to small privately owned companies and partnerships. Clients also include UK football clubs and professional sportsmen in the fields of football and athletics. Simon is the appointed solicitor member of the board of the Scottish Court Service. He is also a member of the firm’s Scottish and UK managing boards.
Next Generation Partners
Helena is an IP, IT and commercial expert with over 15 years' experience advising on a range of legal areas such as high profile technology sector investments and acquisitions, high profile public bodies and charities and on strategic data protection issues and more. Helena is also a fully accredited Practitioner in Data Protection, and also has extensive experience in providing support on complex freedom of information matters. Helena supports and advises on international data transfers, service offshoring and subject access requests.
Practice head
The lawyer(s) leading their teams.
Simon Catto, Helena Brown