Who we are

She has advised clients at the top of the game for nearly 20 years and is consistently recommended as a ‘Leading Lawyer’ in the legal directories. The Legal 500 describes her as “probably the best sports lawyer in the country,” while Chambers quotes, “Liz knows everyone, she has seen everything, and there is a feeling of being in safe hands when she is involved,” adding that she is “world class – her ability to use the law to serve her clients is unrivalled.”

Liz founded the Sports Law Group at international law firm Mishcon de Reya LLP, establishing it as one of the UK’s leading specialist sports practices. She has acted on some of the most high-profile matters in sport and entertainment and advised on many of the biggest football transfers globally. Her deal experience spans hundreds of transactions for clubs, players, and managers worldwide, advising on transfers for the likes of Jude Bellingham, Roberto Firmino, Yaya Touré, Beth Mead MBE and Emma Hayes OBE.

Her clients include athletes, agents, owners, talent, governing bodies and global sports businesses, and she also provides consultancy at government level. Clients turn to Liz for practical, commercial and strategic advice, particularly in complex or high-pressure situations where experience and judgement are critical.

Liz is a qualified mediator through the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, the Civil Mediation Council, the International Mediation Institute, and is New York Part 146 trained. She holds a Masters in Sports Management and the Business of Football, a diploma in Sports Law, and serves in a number of advisory roles, including as a Non-Executive Director of Women in Football.

She is a licensed FIFA football agent – having been the youngest female agent when she qualified in 2005 – a lecturer at the Professional Footballers’ Association Business School, and the author of Livida Sport’s Global Guide to Football Transfers. Liz has been recognised internationally for her influence in the industry, being named in the Leaders’ List of Global Leaders in Sport Under 40 and ranked 13th in The Independent’s inaugural list of the 50 Most Influential Women in Sport.

She is recognised in the legal directories for her drive, determination, and commitment to her clients. She is described as someone who “consistently delivers clear, effective guidance and adds real value to every engagement,” and as “a really conscientious lawyer who cares about the work and goes the extra mile to understand the issues at play.”

Yama specialises in helping athletes navigate high-stakes disputes, including anti-doping, disciplinary, contractual and reputation management matters. She regularly represents clients before FIFA’s Dispute Resolution Chamber and the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), and has extensive experience defending elite international athletes across football, boxing, rugby, cricket, tennis, athletics and swimming. Her earlier work at Morgan Sports Law was dedicated to athlete-side anti-doping matters, giving her deep expertise in investigations and proceedings at the highest level.

Uniquely, she combines this regulatory knowledge with elite reputation management expertise. Drawing on her training at leading media law firm Carter-Ruck, she advises celebrities, influencers and other high-profile individuals on defamation, privacy and commercial partnerships. Her sports work focuses on advancing athlete rights through fair and accessible legal support, which led to her inclusion in the Athlete Legal Aid Program of the US Olympic and Paralympic Association.

Yama is a Trustee of Women in Sport and previously sat on the board of Crystal Palace FC’s charitable foundation. She is a contributor to LawInSport, having served on its Editorial Board, and is a lecturer at the Professional Footballers’ Association Business School.

He advises athletes, agents, talent, creators, media personalities, investors and sports organisations on matters including player and manager contracts, transfer and representation agreements, sponsorship and image rights deals, and media, broadcast and content rights agreements, alongside investment and financing structures.

Before joining Livida, Sean was a Senior Associate at Lee & Thompson, one of the UK’s leading media and entertainment law firms. There he advised financiers, production companies, sales agents and distributors on the financing and exploitation of film and television projects, acting on more than 200 transactions across international media markets, including complex multi-jurisdictional deals involving media rights financing, distribution structures, production funding and talent arrangements. This gave Sean deep insight into how intellectual property, talent and content are financed and commercialised across the global entertainment industry – expertise that increasingly sits at the heart of modern sport, as athletes and public figures build their own media brands and commercial platforms.

Building on this background, Sean developed a sports-focused advisory practice, supporting athletes, agents, creators and emerging sports businesses as they structure and monetise their commercial opportunities. This cross-sector experience gives him a distinctive perspective on how commercial strategies are built around talent, content and rights, as the boundaries between sport, entertainment and media continue to blur.

At Livida, Sean leads the firm’s commercial practice, advising clients on commercial growth and the development of new revenue opportunities across sport, entertainment and media.

Her work focuses on advising investors, funds, owners and businesses on the deployment of capital across the sports ecosystem. She brings deep expertise in private equity, institutional investment and fundraising, with particular strength in complex cross-border transactions and multi-club ownership models.

Valerie offers clients a distinctive perspective on risk and value, shaped by her background in both elite private practice and global investment. She was formerly a partner at Kirkland & Ellis, one of the world’s leading law firms, and spent two years at the SoftBank Vision Fund, the world’s largest technology investment fund. This experience gives her first-hand insight into how sophisticated investors assess growth and manage risk in fast-moving environments.

She advises clients on acquisitions, investments, joint ventures and strategic partnerships, helping them structure transactions and navigate regulatory and reputational challenges. Valerie holds a BA in Political Science and History from the University of California, Berkeley, and an MSc from the University of Oxford.

A committed Liverpool supporter and season-ticket holder, Valerie’s interest in the business of the game led her to create The Women’s Football Finance Podcast, the first podcast focused specifically on the investment and commercial dynamics of the professional women’s game.

Since joining the firm in 2025, she has played an active role in complex, multi-million-pound proceedings before the High Court and the Competition Appeal Tribunal, as well as supporting the team in other contentious and time-critical matters before FIFA and FA tribunals. She brings strong commercial and client-facing experience from her earlier role at an international law firm and is recognised for her diligence, organisation and clarity of communication.

Martina combines practical legal experience with exceptional academic credentials. She holds a First Class Honours degree in Sports Management from Loughborough University and a First Class LLB from City, University of London, providing her with a strong dual grounding in the commercial and legal dynamics of the industry. She is also multilingual, speaking English, Italian and Spanish.

Her thought leadership focuses on the intersection of regulation and athlete protection. She has written on safeguarding and athlete welfare in skiing, a sport she knows well. A lifelong sports enthusiast, Martina has competed in regional skiing competitions and played tennis from a young age, bringing a practical understanding of the athlete experience to her work.

She brings a unique investigative pedigree to the team, having begun her career in the Taiwanese Police before serving with Interpol. In 1999, she founded First Approach Limited to advise international businesses on fraud investigations and enhanced due diligence, developing particular expertise in the Middle East and China.

Lin has led some of the most significant investigations in the field. Her track record includes identifying and securing confessions from the perpetrators of a billion-dollar pyramid scheme and leading a multi-million-dollar internal fraud investigation for a global financial institution.

In an environment of increasing regulatory scrutiny and compliance risk, Lin is a trusted resource for vetting prospective partners. Over the past 20 years, she has produced investigative reports on nearly 10,000 companies and individuals, providing clients with independent, reliable insight into business risks in the Far East and beyond.

She has worked alongside Liz for over 15 years, a collaboration that began at a top London firm, and remains a trusted and integral part of the team. Lucy is known for her exceptional organisational skills, attention to detail and calm, solutions-focused approach. She brings consistency, discretion and sound judgement to fast-paced environments, ensuring complex client matters run smoothly and efficiently.

Lucy also brings an elite sporting pedigree to the team. As a competitive barefoot water-skier, she represented England from the ages of 11 to 17, achieving significant national and international success. Her accolades include being British Overall Champion for five consecutive years (1993–1997), a six-time European Junior Overall Champion, twice European Open Women’s Champion and a gold medallist at both the Junior World Championships and The World Games.

She brings the same discipline, focus and composure from her sporting career into her professional role, making her a reliable and highly valued point of contact for clients and colleagues alike.

He brings elite financial pedigree to the team, having spent 20 years in investment banking across London, Hong Kong and Sydney. He rose to become Head of Equity Sales and Trading for Asia at leading global institutions including Lehman Brothers and Goldman Sachs. In this capacity, he was responsible for managing teams of over 70 professionals and servicing over 800 clients, generating annual revenues in excess of $300 million.

Beyond his consultancy work, Lee is an innovator in the sports business landscape. He founded Player LENS – described as the “LinkedIn of football” – a global digital network connecting more than 600 clubs and hundreds of agents, using data and analytics to streamline the transfer market. Lee now serves as CEO of Fight for Peace, an international non-profit organisation using boxing and martial arts to unlock the potential of young people in communities affected by crime and violence.

Lee holds an MBA from the University of Liverpool (Football Industries), where he specialised in the strategy, finance and governance structures of football clubs and sports institutions.