Spear’s Review

In the 1980s, Withers’ Dawn Goodman was one of the first to specialise in private client work in the arena of succession and probate disputes. ‘At law school I would have thought of it as rather dusty and esoteric,’ she says. ‘I was wrong. It’s challenging, there’s an international element, and it’s highly strategic.’ 

Now senior counsel at the firm, Goodman has experience of litigation in offshore jurisdictions, as well as in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. She also takes on often-complex claims involving the management of trusts, allegations of breach of trust and fiduciary duty, fraud and insolvency.

‘Usually you’re dealing with a difficult family dynamic, or a breakdown in a relationship between trustees and the family. Emotions can run high, and the lawyer needs to be the one with a cool head,’ she says.