meet the team
Contact details
Position:
Partner and Head of Sport (International)
Phone: +(44) 0161 234 8806
Email: [email protected]
Find me on: Twitter and LinkedIn
Carol Couse
Carol heads our international sport practice and has over thirteen years of experience in sports law, both in-house at Manchester United and in private practice.
As a fluent Spanish speaker, Carol frequently advises top athletes, agents, and clubs in Spain, Latin America, and South America.
Carol is regularly invited to lecture at universities and conferences all over the world, publishes authoritative articles on a wide variety of sport-related matters, and often provides comments and analysis on legal issues in sport for the BBC, the Times, the Guardian, the New York Times, Sky Sports, ESPN, FourFourTwo, and others.
She also sits on the board of the Greater Manchester Sports Partnership.
Her work includes:
Advising footballers in disciplinary proceedings relating to on-field matters before The FA and UEFA
Acting on behalf of football clubs, players, and intermediaries on domestic and international transfers
Advising professional football leagues, clubs, players, managers, and intermediaries on football regulatory matters (player transfers, player contracts, immigration and work permit requirements)
Advising high-profile footballers on image rights deals
Acting on behalf of football clubs, players, managers, and intermediaries before the Premier League, The FA, UEFA, FIFA, and the Court of Arbitration for Sport
Advising sports and other rights holders on commercial matters, including sponsorship, endorsements, event organisation (including tours), and the exploitation of their domestic and international television, radio, digital, and mobile rights
Contact details
Position: Partner
Phone: +(44) 0161 234 8810
Email: [email protected]
Find me on: Twitter and LinkedIn
Mark Hovell
Over the past twenty years, Mark has advised hundreds of athletes on their sporting contracts, image rights, and endorsement deals. As a noted insolvency expert, he has also advised nearly sixty football and rugby clubs in insolvencies and restructurings.
He is also an arbitrator at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, where he has been selected to hear over two hundred cases. As a result of his experience and reputation as an arbitrator, he was selected to the CAS ad-hoc committee for the 2010 and 2014 Commonwealth Games. He was also selected as one of twelve arbitrators to the ad-hoc panel for the 2016 Summer Olympics. Mark is also on the UK’s Sports Resolutions tribunal panel and is accredited to the UK’s National Anti-Doping Panel (NADP).
Mark regularly lectures at universities and conferences all over the world, including London, New York, Madrid, Rome, and Timisoara. He is also a trustee of the James Milner Foundation, an editorial board member at LawInSport, the chair of the pro-manchester Sports Industry Group and was previously a non-executive director at the Manchester Football Association.
His work includes:
Acting for players' unions and their members
Acting for football clubs in insolvencies and restructurings
Acting for footballers and clubs on international disputes, including on leading cases involving training compensation, Article 17, and other football-related issues
Successfully defending athletes against doping charges
Advising footballers on cross-border investment deals
Acting on domestic and international transfers, employment contracts, and image rights deals
Working with athletes to establish charitable foundations and with football clubs on establishing community schemes
Contact details
Position: Partner
Phone: +(44) 0121 456 8401
Email: [email protected]
Find me on: LinkedIn
Richard Santy
Richard is a partner in the employment law team and is regularly engaged in sport-related matters.
Richard sits on the Birmingham Law Society Employment Committee, and prior to becoming a lawyer, he was a professional tennis player.
His work includes:
Advising high-profile football players on transfers and image rights
Advising athletes on doping charges
Advising athletes in employment discrimination claims against their clubs
Acting for football clubs on employment matters
Contact details
Position: Principal Associate
Phone: +(44) 0121 456 8316
Email: [email protected]
Find me on: Twitter and LinkedIn
Phil Hutchinson
Phil is a commercial litigator with expertise in advising both public and private sector clients across the UK and abroad. He regularly represents high-profile sports individuals, clubs, and organisations, with a particular focus on football.
Having studied and lived in Germany as part of his undergraduate degree, Phil is a fluent German speaker is able to act for clients in German-speaking countries on litigious matters.
Previously, Phil undertook an in-house secondment at the UK's leading luxury automotive manufacturer. This has allowed him to develop significant expertise in the automotive industry.
His work includes:
Representing footballers, intermediaries, clubs, and organisations on a variety of sports disputes
Advising and representing professional footballers and rugby players in doping cases
Advising clients on complex fraud investigation work
Advising clients on high-value breach of contract claims and shareholder disputes
Contact details
Position: Principal Associate
Phone: +(44) 0161 234 8717
Email: s[email protected]
Find me on: LinkedIn
Sarah Whyman
Sarah is a commercial lawyer specialising in advising clients on the drafting and negotiation of commercial contracts.
She completed a six-month secondment at Manchester City Football Club, working within their in-house legal team. She worked on a number of high profile contracts (including player’s contracts and endorsement deals), and, naturally, took advantage of the opportunity to attend most of the matches!
Prior to joining Mills & Reeve, Sarah worked as a commercial lawyer at DLA Piper.
Her work includes:
Advising clients in the sporting industry, on IT contracts, terms and conditions and supply of goods and services contracts.
Advising clients on non-contentious intellectual property matters.
Contact details
Position: Partner
Phone: +(44) 01223 222 618
Email: [email protected]
Find me on: Twitter and LinkedIn
Chris Belcher
Chris is a partner and the head of the firm's private client practice. He specialises in advising UK and international athletes on their personal tax and wealth planning, often using trusts, companies and foundations to protect wealth for the future.
Chris also competes internationally for Great Britain's age-group duathlon and triathlon teams.
His work includes:
Advising UK and international athletes on personal wealth and tax planning
Advising athletes on establishing trusts, companies and foundations
Advising high-profile Premier League footballers on image rights
Representing athletes before the UK tax tribunal
Contact details
Position: Partner
Phone: +(44) 0161 234 8718
Email: [email protected]
Find me on: Twitter and LinkedIn
Simon Pedley
Simon is a partner in the dispute resolution team and acts for a variety of businesses and individuals, including sportspeople and sports bodies.
He has previously worked at Addleshaw Goddard and Pannone.
His work includes:
Advising football clubs on contractual issues
Advising a variety of sports clubs on enforcement of arbitral awards in and out of the UK
Acting for a high profile group of footballers pursuing a professional negligence claim
Advising athletes and players' unions on disputes with insurers
Advising a club owner in relation to a family trust
Advising footballers on image rights deals and tax issues
Contact details
Position: Partner
Phone: +(44) 020 7648 9269
Email: [email protected]
Find me on: Twitter and LinkedIn
Joanna Grandfield
Joanna is a trained barrister, collaborative lawyer and mediator who heads up our London Family team.
She has advised a range of footballers, rugby players and their partners on a range of family law and children issues. She deals with all areas of private family law work, often with an international dimension but in particular:
pre and post nuptial agreements
divorce and separation
financial claims arising from relationship breakdown
arrangements for children
cohabitation agreements
Contact details
Position: Associate (Indian Qualified)
Phone: +(44) (0)161 234 8818
Email: [email protected]
Find me on: Twitter and LinkedIn
Rustam Sethna
Rustam has experience representing players, clubs, unions and agents in both domestic and international disputes. He also advises on regulatory issues in football, among other sports.
Rustam also sits on the Anti-Doping Disciplinary Committee of the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation and is a member of the England Boxing National Disciplinary Panel.
Contact details
Position: Principal Associate
Phone: +(44) (0)121 456 8450
Email: [email protected]
Find me on: LinkedIn
Jameel Mann
Jameel is a specialist employment solicitor, based in the Birmingham office. He has over 15 years’ experience advising on all areas of employment law. He advises clients of various sizes, from start-up businesses to large national companies. He also has specific experience in the Sports and Education sector.
Contact details
Position: Sports & Media Executive
Phone: +(44) (0)20 7648 5267
Email: [email protected]
Find me on: LinkedIn
Mark Dennis
Mark recently joined from YMU and has extensive knowledge of regulatory matters relating to football with over 15 years of experience working for different stakeholders within the sport. He has developed a reasonably unique skillset having worked for the FA, clubs at Premier League and EFL level and most recently a football agency, which has provided him with an all-round knowledge of scenarios that arise within the football landscape. He has built valuable relationships with the regulatory divisions of the FA, Premier League and EFL, alongside those at numerous clubs and agencies.