⚽ Man City Vs The Premier League aka Freshfields Vs Slaughters ⚽
In a rare post, I get to talk about my two core passions in life: football and law firms.
For all those who don’t share my footballing passion, Manchester City has long been battling the Premier League over various matters related to the club’s [over] spending. Man City are now separately set to challenge the Premier League’s rules (note: its general rules, rather than its financial rules of which Man City are accused of breaking over 100 times) in a three-member arbitration, set to kick off on Monday. The arbitration comes ahead of a separate trial between the pair this Autumn in which the Premier League is bringing 115 charges against Man City. If found guilty, the punishment for Man City could be huge, with the possibility that Man City, which has been crowned Premier League champions for the past four seasons (including ‘The Treble’ last year), could be relegated from the Premier League, and potentially have previous titles taken away from them – and in some cases awarded to the mighty Liverpool FC, creating an even stronger legacy for Sir Jürgen.
Now, if this isn’t exciting enough, we also get to see two Titans of law go head-to-head in one of the most highly publicised legal matters of recent times, one that has caught the intrigue and imagination of the world far beyond law.
Esteemed legal commentator Roy Keane has said “at this point the only clear winners here are going to to be the lawyers”. Roy’s astute tactical analysis – as always – is spot on here, as hourly rates for Magic Circle Partners are well over £1000, and the KCs both firms have instructed have match-day fees of over £10,000 in some cases. And for both sides, nobody is worrying about legal fees. Clearly Freshfields and Slaughters will want to do their best for their respective clients, but you’d be a fool to think bragging rights aren’t also at stake on the pitch here.
This all in the backdrop of England’s Euro 2024 campaign too – what a truly exciting couple of months we have in store! My only hope is that is doesn’t impact Gareth’s dressing room.
Check out this article from The Lawyer for more information.
