Martin Budworth

Practice:

Commercial Litigation
Sports Law
Employment
Professional Negligence


Profile:

Martin practises in commercial litigation.

He is on the Attorney General’s Panel of Counsel.
He continues to deal with cases across the full range of employment law with a specialism in restrictive covenant / confidential information work and the other more commercial aspects of employment law.
He is increasingly recognised for considerable experience in sports law and litigation and is an appointed arbitrator to the UK Sports Dispute Resolution Panel. He has also sat as a Chairman of the FA Appeal Board.

Significant / Reported Cases:

Robinson v PE Jones Contractors Ltd [2010]EWHC102(TCC)(Lawtel) – whether a builder owes a duty of care in tort

Landis & Gyr Ltd v Scaleo Chip ET [2007]EWHC3(Lawtel) 24/7/07 – impact of cross-jurisdictional proceedings on pre-action disclosure

R v the Advertising Standards Authority, ex parte Debt Free Direct Ltd [2007]EWHC(Admin) 1337 (2007)ACD82 – discharge of injunction to prevent publication of adverse adjudication / judicial review

Gover and others v Property Care Ltd - Times Law Reports 1/5/06 (Court of Appeal) (2006) ICR1073 [2006]4AllER69 – re-assessment of the Polkey principle

Lavelle v Lavelle Times Law Reports 9/3/04 (Court of Appeal) – re-consideration of the ‘presumption of advancement’

Parker v Snyder & ors. Lawtel 1/4/03 (Court of Appeal) – viable cause of action / striking out

Examples of recent Sports work:

Billy Graham v Ricky Hatton – acting for the boxer defending High Court proceedings brought by ex-trainer

£1 million permanent total disablement insurance claim for ex-Premiership player

Blackpool FC v Leeds United & Simon Grayson – acting for Blackpool suing over alleged poaching of their manager / wrongful termination of contract

Leicester Tigers RFC – advising the club in defence of threatened points deduction for alleged breach of salary cap rules

FA ‘match-fixing’ investigation – instructed by 3 players in defence of the charges of betting on League 2 matches in which they participated

Blackburn Rovers FC v Huddersfield FC – acting for the Premiership club on a dispute over transfer agreement.

Mark Foster v Amateur Swimming Federation of Great Britain (2004) (Sports Dispute Resolution Panel) - Olympics Selection Appeal

Jonny Wilkinson - advising the rugby player on an image rights dispute

Jay Jay Okocha - acting for the footballer in High Court claim brought by agent

Curtis Woodhouse v Birmingham City Football Club [2004] (Before the Board of the Premier League)

Danny Granville v Manchester City Football Club plc [2003] (Football League Appeals Committee)

TNS FC v Welsh FA – successful appeal for the club - refusal of promotion / restraint of trade

Gino Padula v QPR - contract dispute

Recommendations:

Legal 500 2009:
"has built a strong following for sports-related disputes"

Legal 500 2008:
"is ahead of his call and taking more complex cases"

Legal 500 2007:
"is fulfilling early promise and 'very good value'" 

Recommended in the Legal 500 2006

Memberships:

Bar Sports Law Group
UK Sports Dispute Resolution Panel
Northern Chancery Bar Association
British Association for Sport and the Law
Northern and North Eastern Circuit

Panels:
 Junior Counsel to the Crown (Provincial Panel)

 

Career & Education:

University:

Degree:

Year of Call:

Joined Chambers:

Durham

LLB - Law 

1999 (Inner Temple)

2003

 

Martin Budworth

Year of Call: 1999

Specialises In:
Commercial & Employment

Clerked by:
 Colin Griffin

 

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