In 2025, Global Sports Advocates continued to strengthen its position as a leader in international sports law—expanding our team, securing precedent-setting victories, and contributing to the global conversation on athlete rights and sports governance. We welcomed accomplished attorneys with experience in SafeSport, Olympic eligibility, anti-doping, and high-stakes litigation; successfully defended athletes in some of the most scientifically complex and procedurally demanding cases in the world; and earned recognition from Chambers USA for our knowledge and commitment to client service.
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New Team Members
Ryan Lipes
Ryan Lipes, a former federal prosecutor and Senior Legal Counsel for the U.S. Center for SafeSport, brings significant experience handling high-stakes eligibility and misconduct matters. While at SafeSport, he successfully secured dismissal of a lawsuit filed by a suspended athlete seeking Olympic team placement just weeks before the Tokyo Games, safeguarding the integrity of team selection. He also played a key role in preparing congressional testimony and drafting portions of the Empowering Olympic, Paralympic, and Amateur Athletes Act of 2020, landmark legislation that strengthened athlete protections and codified the right to safe, abuse-free sport environments.
Amanda J. Wendorff
A former Division I track and field athlete and professional triathlete who competed internationally, Amanda Wendorff brings firsthand experience navigating anti-doping rules, testing protocols, and the compliance pressures faced by elite competitors. She joins the firm after nearly a decade litigating complex matters in federal and state courts, where she served as trial and outside counsel in disputes involving breach of contract, fraud, product liability, and other significant claims.
Notable Cases
Norah Jeruto Secures First Athlete Biological Passport Victory in CAS History
Eight days after winning Kazakhstan’s first-ever World Athletics title in the 3000m steeplechase, Norah Jeruto was charged with an Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) violation based on irregular blood values—an allegation that threatened her world championship, her reputation, and her career. World Athletics built its case on statistical models and algorithmic analysis of blood data, but Global Sports Advocates (GSA) pursued a different strategy: developing a comprehensive medical explanation for each abnormal reading.
In a landmark decision, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) dismissed World Athletics’ appeal, upheld the prior ruling in Jeruto’s favor, and imposed no sanctions—preserving her title and eligibility. The victory not only protected Jeruto’s legacy and allowed her to compete at the Paris Olympics but it also marked the first successful defense of an ABP case ever at CAS, setting an important precedent for fairness and athlete rights in anti-doping proceedings.
Jaime Munguia Fully Exonerated in High-Stakes Anti-Doping Case
Former junior middleweight champion Jaime Munguia was fully exonerated following a high-profile anti-doping investigation stemming from his May 2025 victory over Bruno Surace in Saudi Arabia. Initial testing under the Voluntary Anti-Doping Agency (VADA) program indicated the presence of testosterone metabolites in both A- and B-samples—findings that placed Munguia’s reputation, career trajectory, and $3.9 million purse at serious risk. The results triggered reviews by the World Boxing Council (WBC) and the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBofC).
Global Sports Advocates successfully led Jaime’s defense, coordinating with accredited laboratories, regulators, and independent scientific experts to conduct an in-depth review of the testing results. Through extensive analysis, the firm demonstrated that the adverse finding was a false positive caused by pregnenolone—a legal, non-banned substance that Munguia had unknowingly ingested through contaminated supplements on the day of the fight.
Lee’Ann Delcourt Prevails at Court of Arbitration for Sport
Competitive powerlifter Lee’Ann Delcourt successfully overturned a four-year suspension imposed by USA Powerlifting, clearing her name through an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). Notably, the sanction was not based on a positive drug test, but on allegations tied to her social media posts related to her work as a life and health coach. Despite the severity of the penalty, Delcourt initially received no formal notification and no meaningful opportunity to respond.
Facing a strict 21-day deadline to appeal to CAS, Delcourt retained Global Sports Advocates, whose international anti-doping team moved swiftly to protect her rights. The firm filed a timely appeal and within weeks, secured a victory for her. USA Powerlifting lifted the suspension, formally acknowledged that no anti-doping violation had occurred, agreed to pay a portion of Delcourt’s legal fees, and met directly with her to discuss procedural reforms aimed at preventing similar due process failures in the future.
Awards & Honors
For the fourth consecutive year, Global Sports Advocates was recognized by Chambers USA as one of the nation’s top sports law firms, earning a Band 4 ranking, while Founding Partner Paul Greene was individually ranked in Band 1. In its 2025 guide, Chambers praised the firm’s “high level of expertise, especially around international anti-doping rules violations, along with expert advocacy and dedication,” with one client describing their experience as “fantastic from the first day.”
Greene, individually ranked for 13 years, was recognized for his work in complex anti-doping and high-profile sports law matters in the United States and internationally, with Chambers noting that Paul’s mastery of the science behind anti-doping is absolutely unrivaled.
Conference Appearances (2025)
Paul Greene
- Athlete Experience in Dispute Resolution, Sport Conference & SLAM - Lausanne, Switzerland
- A Practitioner's Perspective on the Anti-Doping System, Play the Game - Tampere, Finland
- CAS Jurisprudence, International Sports Law Conference - Berlin, Germany
- World Aquatics Anti-Doping Conference, Singapore
Ryan Lipes
- Association Internationale des Avocats du Football (AIAF) Congress (Miami), Soccer Meets Football: What the U.S. Model Can Offer the Global Game
- ABA Forum on the Entertainment and Sports Industries Conference (Las Vegas), Guardrails of the Game: Compliance and Integrity in Modern Sports Governance
- LawInSport Global Summit (London), Integrity Developments: Anti-Doping, Match-Fixing, and Safeguarding
Publications
Paul Greene & Ryan Lipes
- MLS Joins the Global Club: The U.S. has Finally Joined the Rest of the World When it Comes to FIFA's Training Compensation and Solidarity Fees, Football Legal #23