Spear’s Review

Bradley Williams is a collaborative lawyer and director at Family Law in Partnership who specialises in complex financial cases involving trusts and private companies. He almost fell into this niche: ‘I did one huge trust case that basically involved every test conceivable to try to pierce the corporate veil. We did so successfully, and it gave me every experience I could ever need.’

His clients are UHNWs with multi-jurisdictional assets who often own an interest in an unlisted company that they will continue to work in post-divorce. Williams helps to discern ‘how you value a spouse’s interest in the company’ alongside ‘what that spouse might receive from ongoing work post-divorce’.

In recent years, he has noticed an increase in litigious cases. ‘I’m seeing a lot more challenges than I used to see and more disputes with trusts, between settlors, trustees and between beneficiaries,’ he tells Spear’s. 

However, mediation remains a large part of his work. ‘A lot of these cases do settle outside of court because actually no one wants the publicity,’ he explains.