Interview with a sports lawyer. Part 8. Jessie Engelhart

We continue to found out more about sports lawyers, their careers, and their thoughts. Today I happy to present to you our interview with the attorney at law, an international sports lawyer experienced in strategy & innovation practices at UEFA and FC Barcelona. And since this November founder of Sensato Sports Law, a boutique law firm specialised in all sports-related disputes and advisory matters – Jessie Engelhart (Linkedin).

– Good evening, dear Jessie! Frankly speaking, I was waiting for this interview so much, because you are an example of successful women in sports law. Moreover, this month you founded your own boutique law firm. Please, tell us a little bit about your background.

– Thank you very much Valeryia for having me on your channel and congratulations on your great work!

So I am a Dutch international sports lawyer. I graduated from Tilburg University back in 2016 and continued by legal education in Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Barcelona. The reason I studied law was because I am a very analytical person that enjoys thinking in solutions in the most efficient and effective way possible. Furthermore, I always knew I wanted to live and work in Spain so I did a Master’s degree in Spanish legal practice (which is required to sit for the bar exam in Spain) and passed the Spanish bar last year. Then I decided to specialize in Sports Law as I wanted to combine my two passions, sports and law, by making a career out of it. That’s when I did a master’s degree in Sports Law and Management with ISDE in Barcelona.

– Your career is extremely interesting. You have graduated from the university with a law degree and you worked at UEFA and FC Barcelona in Strategy & Innovation. You received ISDE Master Degree in Sports Management and Law. How do you believe this versatile educational and professional experience shaped you into the lawyer you are today?

– Great question! So I have always believed that lawyers should have a skill-set that is versatile and goes far beyond just knowing how to apply the law. That is why I have always been very open to opportunities in the sports sector other strictly law. And having worked in Strategy & Innovation for the past 3 years has taught me many skills and provided me with so many insights and knowledge as to how key stakeholders in European football run their day to day operations and how they work towards their missions, that I would have never acquired working strictly in law. And now, having founded my own Sports Law firm “Sensato Sports Law”, I can apply all that knowledge and assist our clients from both a legal and business perspective.

– Let’s talk about Sensato Sports Law (https://www.sensatosportslaw.com). What were your motives behind founding this boutique firm and what is Sensato’s mission?

Well, somehow I somehow enjoyed studying law much more than I did working at law firms. I couldn’t picture myself working in such environment long-term due to the relatively outdated ways of working, limited work-life balance and rather conservative mind-set.

That is until I realized things can be done differently. Having worked in strategy & innovation for key stakeholders FC Barcelona and UEFA in football, I have seen the challenges and opportunities that arise with fostering a culture of innovation within more risk-adverse environments first-hand. Legal services have been provided in a traditional manner for decades now. This new generation should be the driver of change in the legal field by questioning conventional law practices. That`s why I decided to found my own firm and Sensato Sports Law's mission is to embrace a client-centric approach by implementing a dynamic work-flow that ensures flexibility and adaptability to meet our clients’ demands.

– Which books (films) exist in your must-read (watch) list related to the sports law and usual life?

– My favorite books/movies would be:

* What they don’t teach you at Harvard Business school (as I mentioned before I believe it is very important for lawyers to know about more than just the law in order to succeed in the industry and be able to relate to your clients whether those are players, clubs or agents)

* How to play the game: What every sports attorney needs to know (I am currently finishing this one and would really recommend it to starting sports lawyers)

* Jerry Maguire (I personally love this movie as it mixes comedy and real life issues in the sports business)

– You have an excellent education, you know five languages and you own a boutique law firm. Please, tell us your secret to success?

– Haha that you for the compliments! Well I have always been quite ambitious and knew from a very young age on that if I wanted to succeed in my professional life, I needed to acquire skills, a valuable education and a solid network that would help me position myself in the industry. That’s why I have always travelled as much as I could, studied languages and made connections and friends in different places around the world, and of course focused very much on my education. When I studied for the Spanish bar exam my Spanish was anything but perfect and I remember sitting in the first class of the Master’s degree and only understanding 30% of the entire class. I spoke Spanish but legal Spanish vocabulary is a whole different world and it always made me quit before I even started. But I knew I could do it if I studied very hard for it and in the end I passed the bar. So I truly believe the key to success is to be persistent and to not underestimate yourself and your capabilities!

– What advice would you share with our readers and young sports lawyers?

– I would say that acquiring experience in the sports sector, whether that is as a volunteer for your local sports team, in business development or law, will help you develop very valuable skills and connections that you can rely on later on in your career and my main advice would be to just start, and try to work with the tools that you have. You can learn as you go and you shouldn’t withhold yourself from entering the industry because you feel inferior to others who have 20 years of experience. Everyone started somewhere and in 5 years you will be happy you started now!

– I would like to thank you for this interview and I sincerely wish you to have a lot of interesting work and prosperity of Sensato Sports Law!

– Thank you so much, it was a pleasure and I wish you all the best, may you keep inspiring your sports lawyers to go after their dreams!

Dear readers, please follow Sensato Sports Law on Linkedin (https://www.linkedin.com/company/sensato-sports-law/) and Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/sensatosportslaw/).

In case you would like to get in touch with Jessie, her Instagram: www.instagram.com/jessieengelhart

Have a wonderful weekend!