Having spent the early part of my legal career as a property, construction and local government lawyer in New Zealand, I spent the next 14 years overseas where I undertook a variety of legal and commercial roles in the sports marketing and media industries (resulting in an expertise in the staging of major international sporting events, bid processes, procurement, joint ventures, exploitation of commercial rights and stadia/venues).Established a "Sports, Entertainment & Venues" specialty practice within the Commercial Group at Simpson Grierson.Examples of clients I act (or have acted) for over the years include the ATP, ITF, FINA, FEI, IAAF, UEFA, FIFA, IIHF, NZ Football, NZ Cricket, Hockey NZ, Netball NZ, NZ Rugby League, NZ Olympic Committee, Paralympics New Zealand, America's Cup Management / America's Cup Event Authority, Volvo Ocean Race NZ Rugby, Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron and Auckland Unlimited. I/we have also acted for a number of major events staged internationally and in New Zealand.Simpson Grierson is a full service national law firm with the sports practice set-up to ensure that legal services are provided to its clients across all relevant practice areas including intellectual property, employment, health & safety, tax, charities, ICT, property, litigation etc. The Intellectual Property team also provides focused expert opinion on a broad range of topics including: rights management and protection, advertising; online activities (including web and text promotions); sales promotions; social media; direct marketing/selling; distribution; supply, licensing; food and beverage and governance.