Mark Lebbon

Special Counsel

Qualifications: LLM, LLB, BComm

Industries

Practices

Mark has a broad range of experience in corporate and commercial practice areas, with a particular focus on the sports, entertainment and media industries.

Mark’s practice primarily focuses on:

  • mergers and acquisitions and drafting of associated documentation;
  • media rights and associated broadcasting and production arrangements;
  • sporting event commercialisation, including structuring advice and the drafting of agreements dealing with licensing, venue hire and procurement;
  • intellectual property commercialisation, including intellectual property licensing and technology licensing agreements;
  • advising clients on all aspects of corporate governance and structuring (including directors’ duties and related party transactions); and
  • drafting and advising on general commercial agreements.

Mark has acted for clients of all sizes, including major listed and private companies, family businesses, sporting organisations, and athletes.

Mark is a Recommended Lawyer in Legal 500 for media and entertainment. He was previously the independent director on the board of Speedway Australia.

Experience

  • Advising numerous sporting bodies on complex, high value media rights transactions across free-to-air television, subscription television and digital platforms.
  • Assisting a client draft and negotiate the naming rights agreement for a large stadium owned and operated by the client.
  • Acting for buyers and sellers of businesses and companies across a range of industries.
  • Assisting a prominent live music venue negotiate its venue hiring agreements.
  • Advising on the corporate restructuring for a prominent national sporting organisation.
  • Assisting a brewery on all aspects of its operations, including structuring, capital raising, and drafting brewing and supply contracts.
  • Advising a large automobile manufacturer in respect of their procurement and supply agreements.
  • Acting for both the sponsor and sponsee in respect of the drafting and negotiation of sponsorship agreements.
  • Drafting rules and regulations for sporting organisations.
  • Providing advice to a number of clients (inlcuding sporting organisations, venue operators and resort owners) regarding refund obligations and arrangements arising from COVID-19.
  • Assisting sporting teams and individual athletes negotiate agreements for the use and commercialisation of athletes’ image rights, including in respect of the use in advertisements and other promotional material.
  • Drafting IT master services and development agreements for clients involved in various industries, including the superannuation, tertiary education and online auction industries.
  • Providing advice to a State government department in relation to procurement and supply arrangements.

Awards and recognition

The Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2022 - 2024
Recommended – Media and entertainment
Law Institute of Victoria Legal Awards 2019
Highly Commended, Rogers Legal Writing Award

Professional Membership

  • Australian and New Zealand Sports Law Association (ANZSLA)

Latest thinking

Unfair contract terms resource centre | 23 Nov 2023

Unfair contract terms: how the new regime will affect the sports industry

Changes to Australia’s unfair contract terms (UCT) regime apply to all industries, including the sport industry. We outline how the key changes will impact the sports industry and offer key tips for how to comply.