Katie Smith
Associate
Katie Smith is an associate in the Litigation Practice in our London office.
Katie advises on commercial, regulatory and contentious matters with a particular focus on the sports sector, working within our Sports & Entertainment Industry Group. She has a broad experience of High Court litigation and sports-related arbitrations, including the Court of Arbitration for Sport. She has advised on a range of multijurisdictional commercial and regulatory disputes for a variety of clients, including domestic and international sports clubs, sports governing bodies, athletes and agencies. Outside of the sports sector, she has advised clients from a range of industries on commercial disputes.
Katie has completed secondments at a global sports agency, a football club and two international sports federations. She has acted as registrar on sports ethics commission appeal proceedings and is a disciplinary panel member at a national sports governing body.
- Acting for domestic and international football clubs in high-profile disputes before the Court of Arbitration for Sport and FIFA.
- Advising rights holders and event operators in relation to drone activity, including in respect of trespass, statutory and regulatory breaches, and economic torts.
- Acting for an agent in a dispute with a Premier League football player involving allegations of breach of fiduciary duty.
- Advising in multiple forums on a personal injury/negligence claim in a high-profile multijurisdictional sports dispute.
- Representing a football club in respect of various charges brought by the EFL relating to the Championship Profitability and Sustainability Rules.
- Acting for a sports agency business in its defence of a multimillion-pound claim brought against it by a former executive.
- Representing a sports client in coronial proceedings, including appearing on behalf of the client at the final inquest hearing.
- Assisting on the sports-regulatory aspects of acquisitions, insolvency processes and cross-border financing transactions.
- Advising an F1 team in relation to its corporate restructuring.
- Acting on all aspects of player transfers on both the club and player side, including high-profile and complex overseas transfers.
Education
- BPP University, L.P.C., 2018
- BPP University, G.D.L., 2017
- University of Warwick, Ph.D., 2016
- University of Warwick, M.A., 2013
- Oxford University, B.A., 2012
Admissions
- England and Wales, 2020
- “Katie Smith is a real superstar in the making.” The Legal 500 UK 2023
- “Katie Smith is a brilliant associate in the team.” The Legal 500 UK 2023
- Co-author, “Immigration and Governing Body Endorsements”, Football and the Law, Bloomsbury, 2022.