Freshfields puts Olympic team through its paces; nine fee earners on secondment with LOCOG

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has stepped up its involvement in the London 2012 Olympics, with dispute resolution partner Raj Parker playing a hands-on role in drafting anti-doping regulations for the Games.

Parker is one of a number of Freshfields partners to get involved since the firm was appointed as the official law firm to the Olympics at the beginning of February by the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG).

London office head Tim Jones and head of communications Anna Mitchell are overseeing the project as a whole, with between 10 and 15 partners and associates already carrying out work relating to the Olympics in London. Corporate partner Simon Weller is handling the distribution of work.

Other partners involved include intellectual property (IP) partner Avril Martindale, who has taken charge of all IP and marketing rights issues, while principal consultant Lindsay Marr is helping LOCOG on general commercial matters.

In addition, the firm has nine associates and trainees on secondment at LOCOG's headquarters in east London.

Jones said: "To be positioning ourselves as the provider of a large, one-off complex sporting event is a fantastic showcase for the firm. It is good for our profile in the London business community – clients are interested in what we are doing."

Jones said that beyond its primary role providing legal services to the Games, the team is also involved in marketing the association with the Games to clients, promoting them internally and working out ways to tie it into existing corporate social responsibility programmes in east London.

Separately, real estate partner Geoff le Pard is also on secondment at the Olympic Delivery Authority.