City firms on their marks in race to win 2012 London Olympic bid instructions

A SPORTING CHANCE: firms compete to advise bid company, the government and the GLA

City law firms are waiting for the starting gun to receive instructions on the 2012 London Olympic bid, following the formalisation of the relationship between London firm Farrer & Co and the British Olympic Association (BOA) last week.

Farrers' appointment as the BOA's official partner means that the firm - which has a 50-year-old association with the Olympics - will act exclusively for the BOA in relation to the London bid.

But a 'bid company' will be launched in the next few months under the auspices of the BOA, the government and the Greater London Authority (GLA).

The bid company's work is likely to encompass construction, marketing and intellectual property work involved in an Olympic bid.

In the event that London is selected for the games in 2005, the bid company would be replaced by an organising committee.

As Farrer & Co is likely to be conflicted from acting for both the BOA and the bid company, there will be a role for another major adviser.

In addition, the government and the GLA will also need advisers.

One insider said the bid company appointment would not go to a specialist sports law firm because much of the bid company's work will require environmental, construction, intellectual property, and public and private sector expertise.

Firms lining up, according to more than one well-placed source, include City practices Ashurst Morris Crisp, Baker & Mackenzie and Denton Wilde Sapte.

Also mentioned were Addleshaw Goddard - which as Addleshaw Booth & Co was instructed in relation to the Commonwealth Games in Manchester last year - and Minter Ellison, the Australian firm which acted on the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.

An appointment to act for the bid company, the government or the GLA would be coveted not only because of the quantity of work involved, but also as a potential passport - in the event that the bid is successful - to becoming an adviser to the organising committee.

Farrer & Co acted in connection with the last London Olympics, held in 1948, and the firm recently employed Robert Datnow, the former BOA head of legal who is a member of Thames Valley Harriers, and hopes to compete at national level as a middle or long-distance runner.

Peter Wienand, the Farrers partner leading the work, said: 'An Olympics bid is global, highly complex, competitive and fast-moving in nature.

As such, it provides a legal challenge which requires a wide range of specialist advice.'

Jeremy Fleming