Bryan Cave LLP has launched a Sports, Sponsorship and Event Venue Group “in response to the ongoing evolution of the world of sports into a world of big business – and a corresponding increase in the need for legal counsel.”
Group leader Ryan Davis, a partner in the St. Louis office, told Sports Litigation Alert the group has the ability to meet that need “because of the strong business connections” that the firm’s attorneys have developed through the years.
“It came down to bringing the firm’s resources together, which allows to provide even better service to our clients in the sports law industry,” said Davis. He went on to credit his fellow attorneys “embracing” the idea. “This was truly a team effort.”
In a press release, the firm said it represents teams, owners, players or sponsors in Major League Baseball (MLB), the National Basketball Association (NBA), the National Football League (NFL) and the National Hockey League (NHL); leaders in sports and entertainment presentation and venue management; marketing and development; the NCAA, the PGA and Ping, as well as other clients. “These clients bring with them a unique range of projects that fall within the sports, sponsorship and event venue realm, which Bryan Cave is well positioned to efficiently and effectively manage,” according to the firm.
Davis declined to get specific with Sports Litigation Alert about niches that the firm would target.
“Our client base will drive it,” he said. “We are well positioned to expand in any direction. The key is that we continue to focus on our client relationships and their needs first.”
The group consists of 28 lawyers with transactional, litigation and regulatory practice backgrounds, who “collectively can offer the full range of legal advice and services that our clients have come to expect and depend upon,” said Davis.
With the growing “complexity and the stakes of this business,” there is a “need for sophisticated counsel with a deep understanding of the issues that matter … , the experience necessary to help clients achieve their goals and a track record of delivering results for clients on the matters that mean the most to them.”
Overall, Bryan Cave (www.bryancave.com) employs more than 1,000 lawyers and other professionals in 25 offices across the United States, the United Kingdom, Continental Europe and Asia. The firm represents a wide variety of business, financial, institutional and individual clients, including publicly held multinational corporations, large and mid-sized privately held companies, partnerships and emerging companies.
