Leanne O'Leary

Dr Leanne O’Leary is an Assistant Professor/Lecturer and dual qualified solicitor in New Zealand and England/Wales.  She commenced her legal career as a barrister and solicitor in NZ, before moving to the UK and practising in employment law. Leanne’s research interests focus on athletes’ employment rights and dispute resolution in elite and professional sport. She was co-investigator in the European Commission-funded EMPLOYS Project, which evaluated good governance in athlete relations in Olympic sports, and co-investigator in a follow-up project, the SOPROS Project, which examined the social protection measures extended to elite athletes in Olympic sports. Leanne completed her PhD at Trinity College, Dublin and has published in leading sports law and employment law journals, including the Industrial Law Journal, The International Sports Law Journal and the European Competition Law Review. Leanne is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and a CEDR-Accredited and CMC Registered Mediator. She was a member of the Sport Resolutions Panel of Arbitrators and Mediators in London, UK between 2012 and 2022, is an Arbitrator at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland, a Member of the FIS Ethics Commission, Oberhofen, Switzerland and a Member of the Premier League Judicial Panel in London, UK.