Leading sports lawyers join Squire Patton Boggs
Steven Bainbridge & Andrew Moroney
Squire Patton Boggs has appointed Steven Bainbridge as a partner in its Dubai Office and as its head of the sports & entertainment group, Middle East. He joins from Al Tamimi & Company in Dubai where he was Head of its Sports Law & Events Management practice, the region’s first dedicated sports law practice. Joining Bainbridge is senior associate Andrew Moroney, also from the Sports Law & Events Management practice at Al Tamimi & Company.
Bainbridge advises on a wide range of transactions across a number of sports, such as motorsports, cycling, golf, tennis, cricket, football, horseracing and triathlon, amongst others. He acts for individuals, corporate entities, governing bodies and institutions, on matters involving sports regulation and governance, stadium naming rights and sponsorship deals, broadcasting, merchandising and licensing agreements, athlete endorsement agreements, player contracts, disciplinary issues, safeguarding and anti-match-fixing protocols, and venue management arrangements.
Having trained at DLA Canada, Bainbridge practised in both North America and Asia-Pacific before moving to the Middle East in 2008. He spent five years (2001-2006) at one of the largest law firms in Tokyo advising on broadcast rights and entertainment contracts in connection with events including FIFA World Cups and X-Games, PGA tour sponsorships, videogame licensing, stadium naming rights and athlete endorsement deals. He joined Al Tamimi & Company in 2008 overseeing corporate projects teams advising clients on sports investment and management issues, all phases of cross-border investment, M&A issues and commercial work. In 2011 he moved in-house as GC at Abu Dhabi Motorsports Management LLC, where he managed the central legal function of the iconic F1 venue Yas Marina Circuit for two years, before rejoining Al Tamimi & Company in 2013 to establish the Sports Law & Events Management practice there.
Bainbridge is a member of the Canadian Bar Association, American Bar Association, New York State Bar Association, International Bar Association and the Canadian Business Council of Dubai and the Northern Emirates. He is a World Athletics Disciplinary Tribunal member, a lecturer and advisor to numerous Sports Law LL.M. programs, and has been recognised in The Legal 500 (TMT), Chambers Global (Commercial) and Who’s Who Legal as a leader in Sports & Entertainment.
Senior associate Andrew Moroney has practised sports law in the Middle East since 2018. Qualifying at Fieldfisher LLP in London as a litigation lawyer, he later spent two years as legal counsel at The Football Association where he advised on integrity, safeguarding, player transfer, and intermediary issues, as well as compliance with FIFA/UEFA Statutes and Regulations, the sanctioning and licensing of competitions, spectator banning orders, and various claims. During his time at The FA, Andrew also acted as the Secretariat of the Rule K Arbitration process and he currently sits on the International Paralympic Committee’s Anti-Doping Panel and Board of Appeal of Classification.
