Sports Law and Hospitality
Representation for Athletes, Talent & Hospitality Operators
Barbarian Law® acts for athletes, coaches, creators, and hospitality operators across Ontario from its office in Aurora: playing and coaching contracts, endorsement and sponsorship deals, name, image and likeness structuring, AGCO liquor licensing, commercial leases, and the purchase and sale of restaurants, bars, and venues. Work is charged on a specific retainer against a written fee estimate — never as a percentage of a client’s contract.
Contract negotiation, endorsements, image rights, and professional management for athletes and talent — and licensing, leases, and deal work for the restaurants, bars, and venues where the industry lives. One lawyer, on specific retainers, never taking a percentage of your contract.
For Athletes, Talent & Creators
A career in sport or entertainment is a business with one shareholder: you. Representation here means more than reviewing a contract when it lands — it means building the deals, structures, and protections a professional career runs on.
Contract Negotiation & Review
Playing, coaching, and performance agreements — termination clauses, buy-outs, options, and bonus structures negotiated and explained in plain language before you sign. Where league rules require a certified player agent, I work alongside them as your counsel.
Sponsorship & Endorsement Deals
Brand partnerships, appearance agreements, and merchandise licensing — with exclusivity, morals clauses, usage rights, and renewal terms structured in your favour, not the brand’s.
Name, Image & Likeness
Your name and likeness are assets. I structure how they’re licensed, who can use them, and the corporate entities that hold them — so the value stays yours across every platform and border.
Professional Management
Standing counsel across a career: incorporations for endorsement income, real estate purchases, wills and powers of attorney, and review of every agreement your team puts in front of you. The general counsel model, applied to a person.
Cross-Border & Compliance
Signing abroad or earning internationally raises tax residency, immigration, and league compliance questions. I coordinate the specialists and keep the structure clean.
Dispute Strategy
Contract disputes, arbitration under league rules, and agent or sponsor conflicts — assessed early and negotiated hard. Where a matter needs litigation counsel, I select, brief, and manage them.
For Restaurants, Bars & Venues
Hospitality margins don’t leave room for legal mistakes. The lease, the licence, and the supplier agreements are the business — and they’re where operators most often get hurt.
Liquor Licensing & Approvals
AGCO liquor licence applications and transfers, municipal approvals, patio permits, and zoning issues — handled so opening day isn’t hostage to paperwork.
Commercial Leases
Negotiation, renewal, and assignment of restaurant and venue leases — exclusivity clauses, percentage rent, demolition clauses, and the terms that decide whether your location is an asset or a trap.
Buying & Selling Establishments
Purchase and sale of restaurants, bars, and franchises — due diligence, licence transfers, lease assignments, and closing handled by the same lawyer who does this for businesses across the GTA.
Employment & Contractors
Chef and management agreements, staff contracts, and workplace policies built for an industry with high turnover and tip-pooling rules that trip up operators.
Supplier & Event Agreements
Distribution, catering, entertainment bookings, and event contracts — the recurring paperwork that quietly carries most of your operational risk.
Where Sports Meets Hospitality
Athlete-owned restaurants and brands, appearance deals at venues, team partnerships with bars and event spaces — deals where I already speak both languages at the table.
A Lawyer in Your Corner, Not a Percentage of Your Deal
Agents and managers are paid a cut of what you sign — typically a percentage of playing contracts and a larger share of endorsements. That model has its place. It also means their payday grows with the deal, not necessarily with your protection.
Percentage-based representation
- Paid a cut of every contract and endorsement, for its full term
- Incentive favours closing the deal over stress-testing it
- No solicitor-client privilege over your conversations
- Career advice, legal structure, and paperwork handled by different people — or no one
Counsel on a specific retainer
- Written fee estimate before work begins — never a percentage of your contract
- Duty runs to you alone: a lawyer’s fiduciary obligation, regulated by the Law Society of Ontario
- Solicitor-client privilege over your negotiations and plans
- One lawyer covering contracts, corporate structure, real estate, and estate planning across your career
How the Engagement Works
Three steps. No deposit, no percentage, no layers of staff between you and your lawyer.
Consultation
We review your contracts, deals in play, and where your career or operation is exposed. You’ll know by the end of the call whether this fits — and whether there’s room on the roster.
Written Fee Estimate
You receive a written scope and fee before any work begins. Nothing is paid up front — Barbarian Law runs specific retainers, never evergreen, and you’re invoiced after the work is done.
Deal-by-Deal or Standing Counsel
Engage for a single negotiation, or keep standing counsel across your career or operation — direct access by phone or email, with scope reviewed as your deals grow.
Fees
Specific retainers. Never evergreen. Never a percentage.
Traditional representation takes a share of what you earn — a percentage of the playing contract, a larger percentage of every endorsement, for as long as the deal pays. Most law firms, meanwhile, want a deposit into trust before they’ll open a file, topped up indefinitely.
Barbarian Law does neither. Every engagement is a specific retainer: a defined scope, a written fee estimate before work begins, and an invoice after the work is delivered. Your contract value stays yours, and your working capital stays in your business. That arrangement runs on trust in both directions — and it’s why this practice takes a limited number of clients at a time.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a lawyer if I already have an agent?
They do different jobs. An agent finds opportunities and negotiates market value; a lawyer stress-tests the paper you’re asked to sign, structures how the money flows, and owes you a fiduciary duty regulated by the Law Society of Ontario — with solicitor-client privilege over everything you discuss. The best outcomes usually involve both, each doing what they’re built for. And unlike your agent, your lawyer isn’t paid a percentage of what you sign.
Do you charge a percentage of my contract or endorsements?
No. Every engagement runs on a specific retainer: a written fee estimate before work begins, and an invoice after the work is done. Whether your deal is worth fifty thousand or five million, the legal fee is the legal fee — your contract value stays yours.
Can you negotiate my playing contract directly?
It depends on the league. Major unionized leagues — the NHL, NBA, NFL, and MLB — require playing-contract negotiations to run through an agent certified by the players’ association, and in those cases I act as your independent counsel alongside the certified agent: reviewing the paper, structuring the income, and protecting your side of the table. For leagues and sports without that requirement, and for every coaching, endorsement, appearance, and sponsorship agreement, I negotiate directly on your behalf.
Who do you represent?
Professional and semi-professional athletes, coaches, esports players, creators and influencers with brand deals, and the businesses around them — restaurants, bars, event venues, and hospitality operators across the GTA. If your career or your establishment runs on contracts, you’re in the practice.
What does professional management mean here?
Standing counsel across a career, not just deal-by-deal review. That can include incorporating a company to hold endorsement income, buying your first house, putting a will and powers of attorney in place, and reviewing every agreement your team sends — handled by one lawyer who already knows your situation. It’s the general counsel model businesses use, applied to a person whose career is the business.
Can you help me get a liquor licence?
Yes. AGCO liquor sales licence applications and transfers, endorsements to existing licences, patio and expansion approvals, and the municipal and zoning issues that come with them. If you’re buying an existing establishment, the licence transfer is handled as part of the purchase.
Do I have to pay anything up front?
No. Barbarian Law runs specific retainers, not evergreen retainers: a written fee estimate before the engagement starts, and an invoice after the work is delivered. No deposit into trust, no top-ups — your money stays yours until the work is done.
Do you handle disputes and litigation?
Barbarian Law is a transactional firm and does not litigate — deliberately, because most disputes in sport and hospitality are cheaper to prevent or negotiate than to fight. When a matter genuinely requires court or formal arbitration, I select, brief, and manage litigation counsel and review their bills, so the file is run in your interest.
Your Career Is a Business. Staff It Like One.
One consultation will tell you whether this fits — and you’ll leave with a written fee estimate either way. No deposit, no percentage, no layers.