Our Profiles

 Ms. Oliveau established her law practice in Los Angeles in 1990.  The firm’s clients seek out her participation in the negotiation and conclusion of transactions, which could include reaching agreements with television, sponsors, venues or corporate endorsees, acquisition of the sanction for an event, talent or service agreement negotiations, television rights contracts, grant or acquisition of licensing or merchandising rights and trademark protection programs.  Efficiency, in-depth knowledge of the sports business landscape, responsiveness and good value are consistent trademarks of her firm’s work.

She is a frequent contributor to conferences and publications in the business of sports and entertainment (including the American Bar Association Sports & Entertainment Forum, the Sports Lawyers Association, IEG’s sponsorship conference and the Beverly Hills Bar Association’s speaking series).

Recent transactions include:

• The Detroit Pistons’ grant of telecast rights to Fox Sports Net Detroit, the local regional sports network.
• The Tennis Channel agreement with the French Tennis Federation for the rights to telecast the Roland-Garros Grand Slam tournament.
• AstraZeneca’s CRESTOR brand sponsorship of the PGA Tour.
• Fox’s production and licensing of the television rights to the 2002 Central American & Caribbean games.
• SBC’s sponsorship of the San Francisco Giants and naming rights to their self-financed ballpark, AT&T Park (formerly SBC Park and Pacific Bell Park).
• Due diligence of sponsorship, promotion, broadcast and multimedia rights in connection with Fox’s acquisition of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
• Endorsement agreements with musicians and other talent on behalf of a major pharmaceutical company.
• Negotiations for Sugar Bowl’s participation in the new Bowl Championship Series (BCS) format, Sugar Bowl's title sponsorship deal with Allstate (and previously Nokia and USF&G).
• Various National Hockey League sponsorships.

Since May 1997, Ms. Oliveau has served as an arbitrator for the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), whose jurisdiction has been adopted by all the sports on the summer and winter Olympic programs as final and enforceable.  She served as one of twelve arbitrators worldwide on the Ad Hoc division of the CAS during the Olympic Summer Games in 2004 in Athens and in 2000 in Sydney, where she was on the panel of arbitrators which decided the controversial case involving the Romanian gymnast, Andreea Raducan, who lost a gold medal after testing positive for pseudoephedrine, a common cold medicine.  She also served as one of nine arbitrators worldwide on the Ad Hoc division of the CAS during the Olympic Winter Games in 2002 in Salt Lake and in 2006 in Turin. 

She is on the panel of American Arbitration Association (AAA) and London Court of International Arbitration arbitrators and has acted as an arbitrator in AAA cases brought under the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency protocol and the U.S. Olympic Committee Code of Conduct.

Ms. Oliveau serves as an Advisory Trustee on the Los Angeles Sports & Entertainment Commission.  She is on the Board of Advisors of the National Sports Law Institute and the Loyola Sports Law Institute.  She is on the Board of Advisors of the Georgetown Entertainment and Media Alliance.  She sits on the Board of Trustees of the California State Parks Foundation, an independent, non-profit membership organization dedicated to protecting and enhancing California's 278 State Parks.  She serves on the Executive Committee of the Foundation.

Prior to establishing her own firm, Ms. Oliveau was Senior Vice President and General Counsel to DelWilber + Associates (DWA) where she administered over $50 million in sponsorship contract commitments and handled the general legal affairs of DWA.

In the mid-1980's, Ms. Oliveau served as the first Managing Director of the Women's International Professional Tennis Council (now the WTA Tour, Inc.), the body charged with governing women's professional tennis and the Virginia Slims World Championship Series.

While Associate Vice President with the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee, Ms. Oliveau managed the Corporate Relations Department which handled all of the 1984 Olympics' sponsors, suppliers and licensees. Her department administered over 200 contracts, involving the successful collection of $150+ million in revenue.

Ms. Oliveau began her career in sports at ProServ, Inc., then operating also as the law firm of Dell, Craighill, Fentress & Benton.  There, she represented professional athletes such as Arthur Ashe, Stan Smith, Tracy Austin, Mitch Kupchak and Tai Babilonia. She assisted in the establishment of ISL's first marketing project for the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and its first sponsorship agreement with The Coca-Cola Company.  She also produced a weekly half-hour television show, SPORTS PROBE, which aired on USA Network.

Ms. Oliveau received her B.S. from Georgetown University and her J.D. from the Georgetown University Law Center.  She is a member of the California bar.

Ms. Oliveau's personal email address is moliveau@lawsports.com.

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Leah Tuffanelli Blofeld

Leah Tuffanelli Blofeld now works in-house exclusively for Byrom, plc. and its subsidiary MATCH Services AG, the official ticketing, accommodations and IT service provider for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa, which was appointed by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (“FIFA”). Ms. Tuffanelli will be proving legal and business advice in connection with the ticketing, accommodation and information technology solutions for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. 

Between 1996 and 2006, Ms. Tuffanelli had her own law firm, and represented clients such as the 2002 and 2006 FIFA Ticketing & Accommodation Offices, the National Football League, NFL Properties, Ryder Cup Ticketing and Travel Services, the Challenge Series – Fleet Racing America's Cup Yachts, the Sausalito Challenge for the America's Cup, ESPN Videogames, the Women's World Cup, SurfStyle, Premier Partnerships, Byrom Consultants, En-Linea, Inc. and other clients.

In addition, in 2005 and 2006, Ms. Tuffanelli taught Sports Law at the University of California, San Francisco – Hastings College of the Law. UC Hastings is one of the largest law schools in the United States, with over 1,200 students, and is consistently ranked in the top tier.

Prior to 1996, Ms. Tuffanelli was Of Counsel to the Law Office of Maidie E. Oliveau, where she worked on matters for Gary Kasparov, Pacific Bell Park, DelWilber + Associates and its clients, the Ice Capades, the World Pro Ski Tour, and various LPGA tournaments. In addition, while working with a start-up sports enterprise, Ms. Tuffanelli represented FIFA, WorldTravel Partners (a 1996 Olympic Games sponsor) and the Valderrama Golf Club in connection with the 1997 Ryder Cup.

From 1990-1995, as General Counsel for the 1994 FIFA World Cup Organizing Committee, Ms. Tuffanelli was responsible for all legal matters pertaining to the 1994 FIFA World Cup games, including drafting and negotiation of all sponsorship, broadcasting, stadium, employment, marketing and other agreements. Ms Tuffanelli oversaw all intellectual property matters, all law compliance work and all litigation matters for the organizing committee. She also supervised all international and domestic outside counsel, and an in-house legal staff of ten people.

Ms. Tuffanelli started her legal career as a corporate attorney at the San Francisco law firm Pettit & Martin, where she worked on mergers and acquisitions, intellectual property and general corporate matters.

Ms. Tuffanelli was raised in California. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree with highest honors from Boston University, with a major in anthropology and a minor in political science. She received three academic achievement awards, including the American Association of University Women's Purmont Award. Ms. Tuffanelli earned a Juris Doctorate degree with honors from UC Hastings.

Ms. Tuffanelli also brings personal experience to the practice of sports law, having been a competitive gymnast for seven years and coming from a family of accomplished athletes, including the Olympic Gold medalist, alpine skier Julia Mancuso.

Ms. Tuffanelli's email address is lblofeld@lawsports.com or leah.tuffanelli@match-ag.com.


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