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The legal work
The Canadian legal sphere has been waking
up to the fact that esports has been around
globally for a few years now and is a huge
business. Although lawyers in the area expect
more work and increasing deals over the next
few years, for many clients who are used to
working in more traditional areas of busi-
ness, such as investment banks and private
equity entrepreneurs, it is a steep learning
curve. There's no textbook on esports — not
yet anyway — and lawyers must keep up on
new developments through social media and
online. Firms are still trying to determine
what they don't know about the business,
such as how revenue is currently driven, and
what might change in the future.
"We need to advise our clients about what
makes sense," Mason says. "As we get deeper
into it, there will be greater complexity we
need to help manage."
Susan Abramovitch, a partner and the
head of Gowling WLG's entertainment and
sports law group, says esports has become
more prevalent in the last few years. What
she loves about it is that it's "really a crossover
between entertainment and sports.
Photography by Jaime Hogge
(Left to Right)
Robert Mason, Norton Rose Fulbright
Susan Abramovitch, Gowling WLG
Peter Czegledy, Aird & Berlis LLP
