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CROSS EXAMINED Mixing it up Noble Chummar was instrumental in bringing mixed martial arts to Ontario. BY ROBERT TODD the Ultimate Fighting Championship crossed his desk two years ago. That's not surprising, as Chummar has never been in a fight, and the UFC is notori- ous for its no-holds-barred matches that typically leave combatants bloodied and broken within the hostile confines of an octagonal ring. "I didn't really understand it," says the Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP partner. "I knew it was controversial. There's no hiding the fact that it's a contact sport, and what you see on TV isn't exactly something that's easy to sell to a government." Yet that is exactly what he was able to do last year — convince the government of Ontario on behalf of the UFC that the sport is safe and able to contribute hundreds of millions of dollars to the local economy. Chummar says he wanted to be a N lawyer for as long as he can remember, but also dreamed of studying abroad. He was able to accomplish both at once at the London School of Economics and Political Science, the prestigious institu- tion from which he received his LLB in 1997. He followed that up with an LLM from Osgoode Hall Law School in 2000. "I think it's just the opportunity to advo- cate for people who aren't able to advo- cate for themselves," he responds when asked what drew him to the profession. "The ability to reason and solve prob- lems. I think most lawyers out there have a very good sense of solving problems, or at least recognizing what the problem is. I felt I had that." On top of a natural affinity for law- yering, Chummar has benefited from the tutelage of two leaders of the bar as a oble Chummar was not a fan of mixed mar- tial arts and its flagship promotion company's events when a file from member of Cassels Brock's government relations practice group. The first is for- mer Ontario premier David Peterson, who currently serves as the firm's chair- man. The other is Ralph Lean, a Cassels Brock partner renowned for his ability to link organizations together for major deals. "They taught me everything I know," says Chummar, adding that such mentorship has been vital in developing his practice in a unique specialty. "It's such a peculiar area to be involved in. It's [about] people skills, dealing with people's problems, dealing with [myriad] industries. I've dealt with, you name it: education, transpor- tation, government, taxes, imports, energy, pharmaceutical. . . ." The job clearly demands a wide range of knowl- edge and skills, and it's easy to see how some- one lacking a guiding hand from those who have been there before might struggle. Chummar's abil- ity to become a top government relations lawyer — which gener- ally involves acting as a strategic adviser to help clients navigate their way through the labyrinth of the political system in Canada — has been helped by his back- ground in politics. He has worked on political campaigns as an aide for Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty and 24 JUNE 2011 www. CANADIAN Lawyermag.com former prime minister Paul Martin. "In those experiences, I developed relation- ships with individuals that end up becom- ing part of the government," he explains. That leads back to the UFC file, which has not only seen Chummar successfully press for the legalization in Ontario of mixed martial arts, but also bring work from the wildly successful UFC to his firm in the areas of taxation, branding, distribution, television rights, and more. Chummar cred- its a "methodical, slowed-down approach" for overcoming the many barriers that caused concern at Queen's Park about MMA legalization. "We were able to meet with decision-makers to basically convince them that regulating mixed martial arts, regulating UFC, was the right approach." Many observers were surprised by the McGuinty government's decision in August 2010 to regulate the sport. The premier him- self had long said legal- ization was not a priority. In February 2010, Sophia Aggelonitis, consumer services minister at the time, expressed reservations about the sport, cit- ing safety concerns for partici- pants and spectators. Yet with Chummar's prod- ding, the province recalibrated its approach and unveiled plans to become the seventh Canadian Mentors have been instrumental in his career, says Noble Chummar.