Alex

What is your job with London 2012?
Brand Protection Lawyer. Brand protection is vital to London 2012, as we must raise around £2bn from private sources to stage the Games. Much of this funding will be generated by exploiting our brand.

Aside from revenue generated from ticket sales and broadcasting, the London 2012 Organising Committee is entirely reliant on sponsorship funding, and revenue from merchandise.

The value of the London 2012 brand and the goodwill in the Olympic and Paralympic Movements are therefore crucial, and protecting the brand is a top priority.

The brand protection lawyers at the London 2012 Organising Committee do everything from registering trademarks, to tackling counterfeit goods and preventing ambush marketing (ie stopping companies from passing themselves off as associated with the Games when they are not).

My role also involves advising on policy decision around how we allow our brand to be used and educating a whole range of interested parties about the need to protect the brand and our legal rights. I work very closely with colleagues in the Legal team, and with the Marketing and Communications teams.

How did you get your job?
I worked at the British Olympic Association for nine months in 2004, concentrating on Olympic brand protection issues in the lead up to the Athens 2004 Games.

I also advised on some of the laws that would be required if London won its bid to host the Games.

When London did win the bid in July 2005, there was immediately a need for a brand protection lawyer and I was approached about the role by my contacts at London 2012.

It was the perfect opportunity for me and I began working for London 2012 in September 2005.

What did you do before joining London 2012?
Immediately before joining London 2012 I worked for a private practice law firm in the sport law team.

One of the firm’s clients is the British Olympic Association, which I was seconded to in 2004, gaining incredibly valuable experience for my current role.

Before becoming a lawyer, I was a swimmer, and although sadly I never became an Olympian, competing at international events such as the Commonwealth Games gave me a great insight into the world of major sporting events.

As a sportswoman I also became hugely passionate about the Olympic and Paralympic movements – so this job really is the perfect role for me.

What experience and qualifications do you need to do your job?
The role is a legal post and I am a qualified solicitor. To take on this role you need a strong legal background, but almost more important are good judgement and communication skills.

This is because you regularly have to deal with sensitive issues and deliver messages which people don’t want to hear.

An appreciation for the complex web that is the Olympic and Paralympic movements is also crucial, as is being astute to the needs of all functions within the Organising Committee, the ODA, our sponsors, and our stakeholders.

What training and support are available to you?
The Legal team at the London 2012 Organising Committee consists of great people with skills and knowledge across a whole range of legal areas. We are all very supportive of one another and collaborate to find the right answer.

Formal training is a necessity both to maintain our status as qualified solicitors and to ensure we are up to date with the law.

We therefore regularly go to relevant conferences and seminars. Our weekly team meetings and the appraisal structure also ensure we are fully informed and properly supported.

Describe a typical day.
I may begin with making a phone call to a business which has infringed our legal rights – for example using our trademarks in their advertising. The response could be anything from a polite apology and agreement to cease the offending activity, to an earful of verbal abuse!

Either way, I always try to end the conversation on a positive note and agree to follow up with a formal letter setting out our concerns and the action we require them to take.

Next up might be an internal meeting to talk about a proposed project which could have brand protection implications.

For example, wherever it is proposed that a commercial entity (which is not one of our sponsors) is to be involved in a Games-related project, I have to ensure that it only proceeds on a basis that it won’t compromise the exclusive association to the Games that we offer to our sponsors.

This may require changing the proposed approach and/or getting legally binding commitments from the company that they won’t seek to exploit their involvement with the Games.

Finally I might do some drafting – it could be a licence agreement allowing one of our stakeholders to use our brand, a brand protection policy document, or a piece of educational guidance about brand protection and our legal rights.

What is the best thing about your job?
My colleagues, and being part of something I am so passionate about.

What advice would you give to someone wanting to work for London 2012?
Make sure you know something about the Olympic movement before you come for an interview – it’s a complex beast and the interviewer will be impressed if you know what a NOC, TOP Sponsor, IF and NGB are!