Bird & Bird significantly boosts gambling practice with the appointment of Andrew Danson as partner

International law firm Bird & Bird appoints Andrew Danson as a partner in London in its international Media, Entertainment and Sport group, providing a significant boost to the firm’s gambling law capabilities.

Bird & Bird’s Media, Entertainment and Sport group is well known for its advice to disruptive market entrants as well as helping incumbents as they diversify to adapt to the digital world. London is the European hub for many international gambling businesses, and has the most developed domestic gambling market in Europe. It has been a strategic goal of the firm for some time to increase our expertise on the regulatory level in London, to complement our existing expertise in commercial gambling work and international gambling regulation.

Andrew has been a partner at K&L Gates in London since March 2014, where his practice focused on commercial and regulatory work in the gambling and sports sectors. He has developed a strong and growing reputation for his work in the gambling sector in particular, where he is recognised by Legal 500 as one of only 7 leading individuals. In addition to his gambling practice, he has strong experience on major international sports media rights and sponsorship deals.

Phil Sherrell, Head of Media, Entertainment and Sport at Bird & Bird says: “The gambling industry is changing quickly, with an increasing number of international markets regulating online gambling. It’s vital to us at Bird & Bird that we have the best possible team here to advise our clients, so I’m excited to welcome Andrew, who is well known for his regulatory and commercial expertise in the gambling industry. The addition of his skill set gives us a best in class international offering.”

Andrew Danson adds: “I’m really excited by what Bird & Bird can offer online gambling businesses, with its core focus on disruptive technology, its existing strengths in data protection, IP, mid-market M&A, competition and litigation, and its extensive international footprint across key and emerging gambling jurisdictions. I’m looking forward to building a leading gambling practice here at Bird & Bird, and to bringing my sports practice to such a top-ranked home.“