London 2012

On secondment with LOCOG

By the time the London 2012 Games start, many Freshfields lawyers will have spent between six months and three years working alongside LOCOG lawyers at the London 2012 office; a further 200 lawyers at Freshfields are also working on numerous projects. They have been involved in groundbreaking legal work.

Below are some highlights.

Aled Batey, trainee solicitor

Procuring for watersports

I spend most of my time with the sports equipment procurement team at LOCOG. There are over 900,000 items to get before the London 2012 Games start. Recently, we have been working on the new cabling system for the lanes at Eton Dorney – the rowing lake at Eton College – where the rowing and sprint kayaking events will take place. Both events use the same system, which has to be reconfigured part-way through the sprint kayaking events. Few companies have experience of designing this kind of cabling system, making the procurement and negotiation process very challenging.

I’m involved in procurement for the sailing events too. We’ve been working on contracts with local fishermen and tour boat owners to get the use of their boats for the London 2012 Games. And we’ve been working with other suppliers to hire boats for the start and finish points of the events.

I’m also working on finalising the test events we’ve organised – most sports have a test event in 2011 or 2012. Although smaller than the London 2012 Games events, they still need a lot of planning and numerous agreements with venues, sport federations, associations and suppliers to ensure all the events go smoothly in 2012.

One of the most interesting parts of working at LOCOG is the breadth of work: I could find myself working on anything from deals on selling ammunition, importing firearms, storing controlled drugs, staging test events and designing sun hats to option agreements with the owners of outdoor advertising space in the UK.

LOCOG itself is a fun and relaxed place to work. Most of the people you’re dealing with work in the same building and, because it’s open plan, it’s easy to go and speak to someone face to face.

Kate Cooper, corporate associate

Getting it right for the London 2012 Games

My secondment to LOCOG gives me a great opportunity to work client side, making some key decisions and helping LOCOG get the best solutions.

It’s a challenge, because both the London 2012 Olympic Games and the London 2012 Paralympic Games have particular risks and issues. My background at Freshfields means I’m used to probing below the surface and getting to grips with the risks inherent in any commercial deal.

I’m working on everything from exploring potential beer and wine sponsorship and licensing deals for Olympic venues to negotiating the contracts for manufacturing the Torch or working on the logistics for printing the expected 8.2m tickets.

I’m also working on the procurement of one of the more obvious symbols of the London 2012 Games: the victory medals. We need around 4,500 and because they’re one of the most prestigious emblems of the whole London 2012 Games, they are also, naturally, one of the contracts that the International Olympic Committee and International Paralympic Committee have a lot of interest in.

Regardless of the deal, I’ve realised I need to be 100 per cent clear in the contract as to what we’re actually asking for, what we really care about and which party is best placed to deal with the commercial risks. Negotiating these sorts of deals is a great chance to be creative and play a part in resolving issues. I’ve found that it’s crucial to understand and explain the real must-haves – from a legal and commercial perspective – then to come up with drafting to deal with scenarios that just wouldn’t happen in any normal commercial situation. I have to think on my feet because I’m often responsible for making decisions on behalf of LOCOG.

It’s a very can-do atmosphere, because we’ve only got one chance to get this right and the cliché is absolutely true: the show must go on. It’s great to feel that in my own small way I’m helping to make that happen.

Kat Stephens, dispute resolution associate

Changing attitudes to the Paralympics

I've been on secondment since May 2009. We've passed various milestones in that time: reminders of the immoveable deadline. Now we're in 2012, the pace has really picked up as the organisation moves into a more operational, rather than planning, phase.

Fortunately for LOCOG, there isn’t much call for litigation advice although there is a role to play in preparing for that eventuality. It's also relevant to the way we structure our contracts to ensure LOCOG has all the tools it may need for everything to happen on time.

I’ve been exposed to a huge variety of projects during my time here. One highlight was working on the competitive tender process to sell the UK broadcast rights for the London 2012 Paralympic Games. Because the BBC is the broadcaster of the London 2012 Olympic Games, it might have been expected that it would also broadcast the London 2012 Paralympic Games. But as a result of the tender, Channel 4 was chosen.

It’s a historic deal, not only because it raised the largest amount of money ever for the broadcast rights for the London 2012 Paralympic Games but also because Channel 4 has committed to showing more hours than ever before on terrestrial television, giving this event unprecedented exposure. It also offers sponsors the chance to advertise in the ad breaks, an opportunity that’s obviously not possible on the BBC. In addition, the International Paralympic Committee has more flexible rules on, for example, advertising on the field of play - so athletes’ bibs and the hoardings can show sponsor advertising.

I’m also working on the London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay, which will journey around the UK in the 70 days before the opening ceremony. My job has been to draft and negotiate a wide range of contracts, including the agreements for sponsorship and broadcasting, the design of the torch and for the route itself. We think there will be around 12,000 contracts, including one with each of the 8,000 torchbearers, not forgetting alternative transport, staging, event organising, hotels and others. It is all fascinating and I can’t wait to see it come to life in May 2012.

I’ve found that working on secondment has given me a more direct relationship with clients, which has given me a better understanding of their motivation and aims.

My attitude to the London 2012 Games has changed as a result of this secondment. It’s difficult to be anything other than positive and supportive when you see how hard everyone is working towards making a success - and how many exciting events will take place in the run-up to and during the London 2012 Games.

Kathryn Simms, trainee

Unusual opportunities

I’m working with the culture, ceremonies, education and live sites team on a huge variety of legal matters. For example, an agreement with not-for-profit organisation Peace One Day to promote a project called Film Nation: Shorts that is designed to encourage young people to make short films based on the Olympic Values.

Even as a junior, you really play a key role at LOCOG. You’re often given smaller matters but have more responsibility, which provides great experience.

I’ve helped with co-operation agreements with arts organisations such as the Royal Shakespeare Company, which will put on the World Shakespeare Festival. Each arts organisation is different and has priorities that are often not the same as a corporation’s, so it’s always interesting to see what aspects of the contract they comment on.

Organisations and artists that sign up to the Cultural Olympiad may receive a licence to use the Cultural Olympiad branding and it’s my role to draft these licences and ensure they get signed.

I’ve been working on human resources and intellectual property matters too. We can’t rely on normal remedies here because, if something goes wrong, there’s little sense in taking someone to court a week before the London 2012 Games – at the very least, everyone will be extremely busy then!

Instead, we have to look at things differently, in terms of what the supplier and delivery partners will agree to and can realistically deliver. It’s really important that both sides understand the commercial deal from the outset. In that sense, it’s a very practical approach.

Everyone here is incredibly enthusiastic, mainly because we’re all involved in the same project, working together with the same ambition: putting on the best Games ever.

Lindsay Marr, principal consultant

Getting the go-ahead in Greenwich

I’ve been seconded to LOCOG part-time since May 2009. To begin with I worked for LOCOG alongside my dispute resolution work at Freshfields. When I retired from other work in April 2010, I said I’d be happy to continue my secondment because I believe both the London 2012 Olympic Games and the London 2012 Paralympic Games will be great for London and Britain as a whole. There’s still plenty of work to do and it’s a different and interesting challenge – and lots of fun.

I’ve worked on the arrangements to use some of the Royal Parks to stage events, particularly Greenwich Park: the big milestone here was to get planning permission in March 2010. We succeeded at about 11.30 at night – after a five-hour planning hearing at Greenwich – subject to conditions that we have been working through as the plans are developed.

I’m involved with the Live Sites, the network of new and existing outdoor big screens that’s being developed to show a lot of the London 2012 Games outside London and get more people involved. I’m helping with the negotiations to agree the terms for providing the screens and sharing their use until after the London 2012 Games.

While we wouldn’t want there to be much call on my litigation skills, there are situations where my dispute resolution background is useful. For example, in assessing legal risks or where some proposals prove controversial. There has been a threat of judicial review proceedings, for example, in connection with the proposed route for the Marathon.

There are a lot of bits and pieces that you have to put together: someone described the London 2012 Games as putting on 20-odd world championships, all at once, in a city that’s going about its daily life. You have to consider every detail: how to control the traffic and spectator flows, all the regulations around advertising, what the city will look like and how life will continue while the London 2012 Games go on.

The Road Cycling, which I have also been involved with, will go through central London and out into Surrey and is a good example of the difficulties of getting an event to work as part of the wider London 2012 Games. And the TV rights are huge for the London 2012 Games – so anything like the Marathon that goes on outside a stadium-type venue has got to work from the TV perspective as well.

Nicky Greer, associate

Keeping everyone temporarily comfortable

My secondment started in May 2010 and the time has flown by. I work with the procurement team to place contracts for the temporary structures needed for the London 2012 Games. I’m just about to finalise the agreement for all the portable buildings and thousands of temporary toilets for the London 2012 Games, so it’s all glamour here!

I’m also involved in the procurement of the Olympic Hospitality Centre, another temporary structure that will host sponsors during the London 2012 Games. And there’s lots more to organise: temporary power, seats and tents – all essential parts of staging the London 2012 Games.

I’ve learned about many things in my time here; for example, bespoke Olympic regulations which you wouldn’t normally come across including Clean Venues or No Marketing Rights, and have gained an enormous amount of confidence from drafting and negotiating many agreements.

To be involved in organising the London 2012 Olympic Games and the London 2012 Paralympic Games is a once-in-a-lifetime experience so I’m really happy my secondment has been extended. LOCOG is a fantastic place to work and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed being a part of the London 2012 experience.

Simon Weller, partner, corporate

'There will be 7.7m tickets available for the London 2012 Olympic Games, and another 1.5m for the Paralympic Games, so getting this agreement right was crucial. The ticketing supply agreement is one of the most important agreements that LOCOG will put in place: it is very public-facing and there has been, necessarily, a lot of scrutiny put upon it.

The agreement covers the provision of a full ticketing services solution that will provide LOCOG's ticketing team with the tools they require to maximise sales of tickets to the London 2012 Games. The contract deals with how key aspects of the ticketing project and related services will be supplied to LOCOG, including setting up and managing the London 2012 ticketing website, establishing a call centre and ticket offices, provision of access control technology at competition venues, and so on.

There will be two primary kinds of ticket sales for the 2012 Games: sales to the general public and sales to contractual clients. The general public, like you or me, will purchase most of their tickets through the London 2012 ticketing website and contractual clients are those organisations to whom LOCOG will provide the right to buy a certain number of tickets – for instance, sponsors and National Olympic Committees.

A lot of the technology aspects covered by the contract are aimed at assisting LOCOG's ticketing team in achieving their aim of maximising attendance at all events at the 2012 Games. This includes developing good communication channels with the general public to enable targeted ticket sales and providing the capability for ticket re-use through scanning-out tickets of people who leave events early.

Having full stadia and an atmospheric Games is very high on LOCOG's agenda.'

• To find out more, please email Philippa Piper