Sports

Lenz & Staehelin’s strong and fast-growing sports practice has a team approach involving attorneys specialising in all legal fields affecting athletes and sports organizations, all the way to private client services. As the largest law firm in Switzerland, with over 200 lawyers and a practice in Lausanne going back almost thirty years, Lenz & Staehelin is ideally positioned to offer the comprehensive advice required by global sporting organizations. The firm has a wealth of experience in structuring events and providing legal advice to bodies including international and national federations, associations, clubs and other institutions, as well as to athletes, agents, event organizers, sponsors, broadcasters and the media.

The legal expertise required in sports covers a wide spectrum of fields in which Lenz & Staehelin already has a leading position. These include arbitration and litigation, corporate law, competition law, corporate financing, immigration and tax planning (involving VAT-related issues in international constellations), structuring entities, intellectual property, all types of contracts linked to sports (including employment and sponsorship contracts), and finding the right vehicle for federations and sporting or entertainment events.

Another area in which we specialize is the resolution of sports disputes, in particular representing clients before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne (doping and disciplinary cases, commercial disputes) or in other proceedings, including before the dispute resolution bodies of sports federations.

Our experience covers various sports, such as football, equestrian disciplines, motor sport, motorcycling, cycling, sailing, basketball, gymnastics, wrestling, athletics, boxing, skiing, ice hockey, taekwondo, boules sports, bridge.