Stephen O’Flaherty is a Partner in the Immigration team and joint Head of the sport group at Lewis Silkin. He works across a broad range of clients, primarily in the sports, entertainment and technology sectors. In the sports arena, Stephen acts for football clubs on international transfers of both playing and non-playing staff, advises on Governing Body Endorsements and represents clubs on Exceptions Panels appeals, and advises organisations on all aspects of recruiting international talent.

Stephen has developed a robust reputation for supporting sports clubs, international federations and agencies on compliance and regulatory requirements. He is ranked by Chambers & Partners and Legal 500 as a key practitioner in his field. Chambers has described him as “very knowledgeable and a great advisor to have on your side” with “excellent interpersonal skills” who is “able to give clear, commercial advice”. He has been praised as “fantastic to work with, offering strong communication and solid knowledge that make everything seamless” and as “an expert in his field and very reliable and well respected within the football industry”. Legal 500 describes him as “the best immigration lawyer I have worked with in my years dealing with global mobility” who “goes above and beyond to help with quirky or difficult situations, is very responsive and incredibly personable”. Clients note he “always makes you feel like you are his priority” and “is the in-house lawyer’s dream in terms of external counsel”.