Sarah Williams

Practice Areas

Sarah is a partner in the Payne Hicks Beach Family department and head of Modern Family Law.

Sarah has extensive experience in all children law matters, often with an international and public law dimension. Sarah advises on complex, ultra-high net worth, high profile, multi-party sensitive children law matters with serious welfare considerations including, domestic abuse, coercive controlling behaviour, high-conflict disputes, alienating behaviours, abduction, international and domestic relocation of children and health and welfare disputes concerning vulnerable individuals, including those concerning capacity, gender and decisions regarding education and serious medical treatment.

Sarah also has expertise in all aspects of modern family law, encompassing matters such as domestic and international surrogacy arrangements, adoption, donor conception and issues concerning parentage. Her practice operates at the cutting-edge of family law and, as such, often intersects with matters of public policy and human rights.

Sarah is ranked in Chambers & Partners and The Legal 500 and is an integral member of the team which won Family Law Team of the Year at the Chambers High Net Worth Awards 2024. She is recognised in Chambers & Partners as having an “encyclopaedic knowledge of the law,” “being one of the most highly respected lawyers … spearheading applications of the law to new and emerging family forms” and by The Legal 500 as “exceptional”, a “Next Generation Partner” and a “stand out individual”.

Sarah is adept at advising on urgent, emergency relief and also known for her stamina and client care on long running, contentious cases. She is solution driven and advocates alternative dispute resolution where possible.

Sarah is prolific legal commentator. Sarah is shortlisted as Family Law Commentator of the Year 2024 at the forthcoming LexisNexis Family Law Awards and in 2023, she was a finalist for both Family Law Partner of the Year and Family Law Commentator of the Year at the LexisNexis Family Law Awards.

Sarah spent the first decade of her career as a practising private and public family law Barrister at a leading set of chambers representing parents, children, guardians, Local Authorities and the Official Solicitor in complex and sensitive children law cases. Sarah’s practice included those concerning serious medical issues such as FII, non-accidental injuries to children, international adoption, international abduction, enforcement of foreign orders, international and domestic relocation of children and cases involving vulnerable adults. Appointed Junior Counsel to the Crown.

Career

Sarah qualified 1995 and joined Payne Hicks Beach 2020, Partner 2022.

Professional Memberships

Family Law Bar Association

Association of Lawyers for Children

Franco-British Lawyers Society

The Child Abduction Lawyers Association

American Bar Association

Chair, Bar Liaison Committee, Inner Temple

Executive Committee, Inner Temple

Family Ambassador Board, Support Through Court

Publications

Sarah is recognised as a notable legal commentator and is shortlisted for Family Law Commentator of the Year at the LexisNexis Family Law Awards 2024. Just recently, she spoke at the Asia Pacific Chapter of the International Academy of Family Lawyers (September 2024), The American Bar Association (Boston, May 2024), The Annual Family Law Conference, Cape Town (March 2024), The Law Society (2023) and at Family Law conferences in the Middle East and Caribbean. Sarah will be speaking at International Child Abduction Conference in Madrid (October 2024). She has written for The Times, The Guardian, The Financial Times, Tatler, Spears and also for radio and television. She is an annual contributing author for the International Comparative Legal Guide (Family Law), regularly contributes to esteemed domestic and international family law journals and is a University Guest Lecturer on Family Law and Ethics (Guy’s and St.Thomas’ Hospital Trust). Her articles are published in leading French, Spanish and Italian family law journals. She was shortlisted for Family Law Partner of the Year and Family Law Commentator of the Year in the LexisNexis Family Law Awards 2023 and is named in the Lady Chief Justice’s inaugural 2024 Pro Bono Recognition List, in recognition of her outstanding pro bono contribution in family law.

Examples of 2024 publications/engagements:

International Comparative Legal Guide, Family Law 2024 Expert Chapter (September 2024)

The Times: Wealth and children at risk for families fleeing tax hikes (September 2024)

Tatler: UHNW Families: Children and divorce(September 2023)

Spears: English Family Law is failing to keep up with changes in society (July 2024)

The Financial Times: Is Birdnesting the Answer for Divorcing Parents? (July 2024)

BBC London (July 2024)

Tatler: Thinking about surrogacy? (June 2024)

Today’s Family Lawyer – Fertility provision for those living with HIV (June 2024)

Work Highlights

Recent Work Highlights:

Re S (Inherent Jurisdiction: Transgender Surgery Abroad) [2023] EWCH 347. These proceedings, heard before The President of the Family Division, Sir Andrew McFarlane, concerned the validity of an adolescent’s consent to transgender surgery, wardship proceedings, matters of national public policy, competing medical and legal positions here and abroad and the engagement of human rights. The judgment included valuable commentary on the appropriate engagement of the Inherent Jurisdiction of the High Court. Sarah acted Pro Bono and secured a significant costs award, the funds of which were directed to the Access to Justice Foundation.

Prospective Adopters v London Borough of Ealing and Ors [2023] EWFC 294. A successful outcome in a rare contested adoption case with particularly complicating and sensitive features.

R v S [2022] EWFC 65 Acting for a mother in an “unprecedented” application by a father. The father sought the retrospective disclosure and inspection of internal CCTV footage from the mother’s household. This matter raised issues of relevance, proportionality, welfare and competing human rights. The father’s application was successfully dismissed.

Languages Spoken

French

Education

Awards