Lawyer Monthly Legal Awards 2022 SPORTS LAW & CORPORATE LAW LAW FIRM OF THE YEAR How have you each seen Armstrong Teasdale develop since arriving at the firm? PETER: The Armstrong Teasdale/Kerman & Co combination in 2021 was a major move by both legacy firms. In the US, the combination was the firm’s first move to Europe (London and Dublin). For us in London, this has been a huge boost, as we now are part of a major US firm. We can now help our European clients with all their US legal issues, which has greatly enhanced what we can offer. ZANE: In addition to the UK/US combination to which Peter refers, the London office has steadily grown since I joined in 2012 and it is a huge advantage to be able to offer clients the full array of legal services to assist them in all key areas of law, from commercial to corporate, employment to litigation. By the same token, how have your own practices and skills developed during this period? PETER: As I originally trained and practiced as a US lawyer, our integration into Armstrong Teasdale has been a perfect fit for me. More broadly, our London team is spending a lot of time helping our US clients in navigating transactions in the UK – there are both technical and market differences where we can help to smooth negotiations toward completion. ZANE: We are best known for assisting our clients on all aspects of their event management and delivery programme including sponsorship, ticketing, supplier and security contracts, procurement, venue agreements, data protection, corporate governance and brand protection. However, in recent years we have significantly grown our technology practice, advising on contracts for tech services, including managed or outsourced services and SaaS and, most recently, non-fungible token (NFT) deals for events, governing bodies and football clubs. The fact that we have an exceptional team of intellectual property lawyers dealing with patent, design rights and trade mark issues hugely assists in the tech area. What was it that initially led you to specialise in your respective fields of sports and corporate law? PETER: When I left law school in the US, I had intended to be a litigator. On my first day of work as a qualified lawyer, the senior partner of the firm called me in to ’ask’ me to join the firm’s corporate group due to a significant need for help there. From the start, I loved working with businesspeople and I have not regretted it since. ZANE: I have always been passionate about sport. It quickly dawned on me when studying a dual honours law and biology degree at Keele University that this may afford me an Zane Shihab - Partner & Head of UK Sport Peter Kohl - Partner & Head of UK Corporate 13 UNITED KINGDOM
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy Mjk3Mzkz