Overview
The Littleton Inspire Sports Law initiative is designed to support:
(1) athletes transitioning away from high performance sport into a career in the law; and/or
(2) those from less represented socio-economic backgrounds who wish to embark on legal careers at the Bar.
Opportunities
The initiative includes opportunities for:
Recent examples of participants in the scheme have been Christine Ohuruogu (athletics), Miles Benjamin (rugby union) and Zafar Ansari (cricket). Please view the videos to understand the experiences of some of the participants in the Littleton Sports Law Initiatives.
Application process
At present the Littleton Sports Law Group offers around 6 places on the initiative per calendar year. Applications by way of maximum 1-page covering letter and 2-page CV should be emailed to Ian Smethurst at ian@littletonchambers.co.uk.
Inspire Sports Law: a participant’s view
“I applied to Littleton’s Inspire Sports Law initiative due to the highly reputable nature of their sports law practice – an area of law I am keen to pursue at the Bar. This was particularly important to me, given that sports law is a growing field and thus it can be more challenging to get a flavour for it, compared to other longer established areas of law.
“A mini-pupillage at Littleton allowed me to gain a clearer understanding of what sports law practice at the Bar entails. The two days I spent were well-structured and organised, providing me with the opportunity to sit with different members of chambers and meet many people across chambers. I learned not only about their sports law practices but also other areas of chambers’ expertise.
“On my first day, I was supervised by the incredibly welcoming and lovely Sam Neaman and on my second day I was supervised by the equally lovely and kind Alex Francis. During this time, I read and discussed various cases, covering employment law, sports law and even employment law within the sports context – demonstrating to me the interconnectedness of sports law with other areas of chambers’ expertise.
“I would highly recommend the scheme because of the valuable insights it offers into sports law, as well as the supportive and approachable people at chambers who were incredibly generous with their time and knowledge, always willing to offer guidance. The set’s warm and friendly atmosphere made my experience all the more enriching – one for which I’m truly grateful.”
Shukri Lloyd (recent ISL participant)