Index
Family Lawyers
Location
London
Advice type
Children law
Cross-border
Divorces
Financial remedies
High-profile cases
Legal - Dispute resolution
Prenuptial and postnuptial agreements
Asset Class
Trusts
Sector Focus
Legal Advisory Services
William Massey
Spear’s Review
William Massey, who retired in 2026 after two decades at Farrer & Co – where he also served as head of its family team – has been described by peers as among the ‘most eminent practitioners in family law’ and regularly rated Top Flight in The Spear’s 500.
Having begun as a corporate lawyer at Freshfields before turning to family work in 1991, he built a reputation as the strategist of choice for complex financial cases involving trusts, tax and international assets.
Among his most notable cases is Goddard-Watts v Goddard-Watts [2023], in which a financial remedies order was set aside twice for the husband’s material non-disclosure – to Massey’s knowledge, a first – winning his client an additional £6.24 million after £21 million in undisclosed trust assets came to light.
Massey leaves the team in the hands of Spear’s Top Flight adviser Claire Gordon.
Read next: London’s ‘poshest law firm’ appoints new divorce head
Rank: Senior Statesperson
Senior Statesperson 2026, Family Lawyers