François Lhospitalier is Of Counsel at the firm he joined in 2025 with the mission, alongside Augustin Nicolle, of developing and structuring a new practice around the economics of sport.

He began his career as a lawyer at Microsoft and then spent 8 years at Orange. He became legal director at Avanquest Software, then returned to telecoms at Virgin Mobile. He changed universes by going into sport at the French Tennis Federation (FFT) as legal & compliance director, where he supervised the legal issues of Roland-Garros and set up a compliance and risk management program. He then held the position of Secretary General of Paname 24 (a company created from the association of five of the largest French event production agencies: Auditoire, Havas Events, Ubi Bene, Obo and Double 2), responsible for the executive production of the opening ceremonies of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

It is specifically involved in the sports sector, advising organizations (federations, leagues, clubs, athletes, event organizers, equipment manufacturers, broadcasters, sponsors, sports marketing agencies, sportechs, eSports, investment funds, local authorities) on all legal issues (from sponsorship to infrastructure, including TV rights, piracy, eSports, GTCs and ticketing, governance and compliance, risk mapping, real estate, insurance, tax, social, disciplinary, litigation).

Education

• Admitted to the Paris Bar, 2025
• Postgraduate degree in business law – Université Paris Cité, 1998
• Master’s degree in private business and tax law – Université Panthéon-Assas, 1997
• Inter-university exchange program – Université de Montréal (Canada) / Université Panthéon-Assas – Québec law, 1996
• Aliath certification – to serve as a director, 2024

Did you know

François is a member of the Management Committee of the Stade Français omnisport. He was a member of the Ethics Committee of the French Golf Federation (FFGolf) for 8 years, Vice-President of the French Association of Corporate Lawyers (AFJE) and a member of the Montesquieu Circle.
He is one of the Top Legal Voices 2024, the 20 personalities who shine in the legal world.