David Seligman

Partner

David has been listed as ‘Rising Star’ in the last two editions of the Legal 500, and nominated for ‘Rising Star of the Year TMT’ at the 2024 Legal 500 Northern Powerhouse Awards, David is also a ‘go to’ solicitor on football related matters. As a result he was promoted to Partner in January 2024.

He advises and represents various football clubs, players and agents/intermediaries on a wide range of legal issues. His knowledge and experience within the industry has led to him being referenced by the European Commission in its report on the Economic and Legal Implications of the Transfer System and cited regularly in the media.

David is instructed by some of the world's leading football agents and players and has recovered tens of millions of pounds in unpaid agents' fees and player salaries. He has also advised on transfers worth in excess of £1.5 billion as well as on employment matters, image rights, sponsorship and other commercial opportunities.

David has amassed an impressive network of client’s particularly in football. Over the last 12 months David has advised leading agencies: YMU, EMG, New Era, Apex Sports, Evolve Talent, Prolific Sports Group, Consilium Sports and Mansa Sports Management. He has acted for in excess of 500 individual footballers and advised on transfers in 25 countries. More recently David has been instructed in relation to the appointment of two Premier League managers. He has recently also advised on high value multi-jurisdiction player transfers included Moussa Dembele on his ground breaking transfer to the Saudi Pro-League, Jeremie Frimpong on his new contract at Bayer Leverkusen, Jordan Zemura from AFC Bournemouth to Udinese in Italy and US Men’s National Team Captain Tyler Adams form Leeds to AFC Bournemouth.

David has represented clients in front of all the major sports arbitration bodies including the FIFA Dispute Resolution Chambers, the Football Association, the Court of Arbitration for Sport and the National Anti-Doping Panel. In the last year alone, he has led matters that have resulted in success in the High Court as well as in FIFA, FA and EFL arbitration proceedings. He was also the first lawyer to bring a case before the newly formed Premier League Judicial Panel. David’s knowledge has led to his appointment on multi-jurisdictional matters and he was successful in defending a French national football player and a Bundesliga club before the FIFA Dispute Resolution Chamber. He currently leads a seven figure FA Rules K arbitration against a leading international and champions league player as well as a high value matter before the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Outside football, David has acted for a number of Rugby League players, including the leading anti-doping case in UK sport (UKAD v Ryan Bailey), where he was a crucial member of the legal team to be the first law firm to successfully argue that an athlete who refused a drug test should not be banned. He has also worked for some of the world’s leading boxing promoters.

He is also regularly quoted in the media (Forbes, Daily Mail, talkSPORT, the Athletic, New York Times) for his sports law analysis and provided analysis, comment and opinion to the ‘Discussion Paper on the Impact of COVID-19 on Dispute Resolution In Sport’ led by Murray Rosen QC.