Sarah Williams

Information about the specialist

Practice Areas

Sarah is a Partner in the Payne Hicks Beach Family department and Head of the Modern Family Law Department.

Sarah is a highly experienced children lawyer. She works on complex, ultra-high net worth, high profile, multi-party sensitive children law matters with serious welfare considerations, often with an international or public law dimension. Sarah’s matters include those involving domestic abuse, coercive controlling behaviour, alienating behaviour, international abduction, domestic and international relocation of children and the recognition of foreign orders. She also advises on health and welfare disputes concerning vulnerable individuals, including those with issues around capacity, gender and decisions regarding serious medical treatment. 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 also has extensive expertise in fertility, surrogacy and adoption law, including matters such as domestic and international surrogacy arrangements, international and domestic adoption, donor conception and matters concerning parentage and parental responsibility.

Her practice operates at the cutting-edge of family law and, as such, often intersects with public law and policy and human rights. She is described by the law directories as being “brilliant on the law” able to process “extremely complex material in a clear concise and timely way” and a “stand out individual”. Sarah is ranked in The Legal 500 UK 2023 as a Next Generation Partner and “Stand out Individual” and in the Spear's Family Law Index 2023 where she is recognised for specialist focus in surrogacy and adoption work.