Sarah Williams

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.

Career

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

Publications

Sarah is recognised as a notable legal commentator recently speaking at a European Chapter meeting for the International Academy of Family Lawyers, The Law Society, the Payne Hicks Beach International Modern Families event and, in May 2024, she will be speaking at the American Bar Association’s Family Law Conference. She is an annual contributing author for the International Comparative Legal Guide (Family Law), she regularly contributes to esteemed domestic and international family law journals and is a University Guest Lecturer on Family Law and Ethics.

Personal

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.

Professional Memberships

Family Law Bar Association

Association of Lawyers for Children

Franco-British Lawyers Society

American Bar Association

International Bar Association

Careful Child Relocation

Chair, Bar Liaison Committee, Inner Temple

Executive Committee, Inner Temple

Family Ambassador Board, Support Through Court

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.

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