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Firm Profile: Burgess Sport and Entertainment Law, Gold Coast
It's one thing to be a lawyer who surfs, but something quite different to be a lawyer who covers the gamut of legal issues to do with surfing. Matt Burgess, a 26-year-old lawyer on the Gold…
It's one thing to be a lawyer who surfs, but something quite different to be a lawyer who covers the gamut of legal issues to do with surfing. Matt Burgess, a 26-year-old lawyer on the Gold Coast, is doing just that.
And now he's preparing to officially launch his firm, Burgess Sport and Entertainment Law, specialising in entertainment and sport - particularly, anything to do with surfing.
Given his current list of clients and niche expertise, Burgess looks set to grow a healthy business in an area of law that plenty of lawyers could only ever dream about pursuing. Even Burgess is the first to admit: "It's an attractive area, but the opportunity is fairly slim." It helps that he's already completed a stint as a lawyer at the Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) - and will keep them as a client on retainer - has assisted in launching Foxtel channel Fashion TV in Australia and has worked with a number of unique clients, including the Australian Air Guitar Championships.
It also helps to love sport, surf on the Gold Coast, develop a network of likeminded lawyers and immerse yourself, day-to-day, in the surroundings of potential clients - be it on the football field, out at a gig or in the surf.
Needless to say, Burgess is living the dream. Still, while working in any area to do with sport may have been a lifelong ambition, law was not originally on the cards for Burgess. After originally enrolling in diagnostic radiography at a university in Sydney, Burgess made the switch to Bond University after landing a scholarship to study law.
Upon graduating in 2005, he had a job lined up in his hometown of Newcastle but a call from the CEO at ASP changed all that.
Burgess interned with ASP, before taking on the position of in-house counsel - the first such position to be formed with the organisation. These days, while still working three days a week with ASP and one day with Fashion TV, Burgess is using his spare time to build up his own firm. So far, he's covering everything from media clients to clothing companies, surf brands, young sporting talent, fashion, music and bands - but he believes it can extend much further.
As for marketing, Burgess is going as far away from the traditional law firm website as possible. He's looking to use his website as a "portal" rather than a stand-alone information source about his services in a bid to give back and assist in marketing his clients.
"I just don't like lawyer websites. I don't like the fact that they just tell you how great they are." he says. "I think if you focus on what the client's interests are, rather than just the legal services they want, you've got a relationship there that you can build off."
As for Burgess' own needs, there's no doubt he's found the right place to exploit them. "I don't think I'd be doing law if I wasn't doing sport or media," he says. "I'm pretty lifestyle oriented."
Angela Priestley
