Company
Position
Partner
Index
Family Lawyers
Legal
Location
London
Advice type
Children
Cohabitation
Cross-border litigation
Divorces
Financial remedies
Prenuptial and postnuptial agreements
Sector Focus
Legal Advisory Services
Geographical focus
Bahamas
Belgium
France
Guatemala
Hong Kong
Indonesia
Italy
Jersey
Latvia
New Zealand
Nigeria
Russia
Singapore
United States
Customer type
Solicitor
Ben Parry-Smith
Spear’s Review
Once described as the ‘protégé’ of Fiona Shackleton, Ben Parry-Smith joined Payne Hicks Beach on qualification and made partner in 2018.
The Oxford graduate specialises in a range of matters relating to family law. This includes cohabitation disputes, pre- and post-nuptial agreements, divorce/civil partnership, relocation of children, complex financial disputes and jurisdictional issues. Most notably, Parry-Smith was part of the team representing Princess Haya in her high-profile divorce from Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.
He tells Spear’s that he has been busy doing an increasing amount of children and abduction work alongside his usual diet of HNW and international divorce/financial remedy work.
Increasingly, he has also played a role in advocacy in the industry: in 2023, he spearheaded a Payne Hicks Beach initiative to create guidance helping family lawyers to deal with vulnerable clients, which has received support from other private client firms.
Rank: Top Recommended

Top Recommended 2024, Family Lawyers
Network Connections
Top Flight

Robert Brodrick
Payne Hicks Beach
Tax Lawyers
London

Top Flight 2024
Tax Lawyers
Top Flight

Dominic Crossley
Payne Hicks Beach
Reputation & Privacy Lawyers
London

Top Flight 2025
Reputation & Privacy Lawyers
Top Flight

Fiona Shackleton
Payne Hicks Beach
Family Lawyers
London

Top Flight 2024
Family Lawyers
Top Recommended

Nick Manners
Payne Hicks Beach
Family Lawyers
London

Top Recommended 2024
Family Lawyers
Top Recommended

Kathryn Bradbury
Payne Hicks Beach
Immigration Lawyers
London

Top Recommended 2024
Immigration Lawyers
Top Recommended

Emma Copestake
Payne Hicks Beach
Property Lawyers
London

Top Recommended 2024
Property Lawyers
Top Recommended

Richard Manyon
Payne Hicks Beach
Contentious Trust Lawyers
London

Top Recommended 2024
Contentious Trust Lawyers
Top Recommended

Hanna Basha
Payne Hicks Beach
Reputation & Privacy Lawyers
London

Top Recommended 2025
Reputation & Privacy Lawyers
Top Recommended

Simon Beccle
Payne Hicks Beach
Family Lawyers
London

Top Recommended 2024
Family Lawyers
Top Recommended

Simon Blackburn
Payne Hicks Beach
Landed Estate Lawyers
London

Top Recommended 2024
Landed Estate Lawyers
Top Recommended

Sam Carver
Payne Hicks Beach
Tax Lawyers
London

Top Recommended 2024
Tax Lawyers
Top Recommended

Basil Dixon
Payne Hicks Beach
Legal
London

Top Recommended 2024
Tax Lawyers
Top Recommended

Harriet Errington
Payne Hicks Beach
Family Lawyers
London

Top Recommended 2024
Family Lawyers
Top Recommended

Emma Harris
Payne Hicks Beach
Tax Lawyers
London

Top Recommended 2024
Tax Lawyers
Top Recommended

Jessica Henson
Payne Hicks Beach
Contentious Trust Lawyers
London

Top Recommended 2024
Contentious Trust Lawyers
Top Recommended

Victoria Hingston
Payne Hicks Beach
Family Lawyers
London

Top Recommended 2024
Family Lawyers
Top Recommended

Rosamond McDowell
Payne Hicks Beach
Tax Lawyers
London

Top Recommended 2024
Tax Lawyers
Top Recommended

Philip McGuirk
Payne Hicks Beach
Family Lawyers
London

Top Recommended 2024
Family Lawyers
Top Recommended

Till Vere-Hodge
Payne Hicks Beach
Art Lawyers
London

Top Recommended 2024
Art Lawyers
Recommended

Andrew Willan
Payne Hicks Beach
Reputation & Privacy Lawyers
London

Recommended 2025
Reputation & Privacy Lawyers
Recommended

James Bacon
Payne Hicks Beach
Tax Lawyers
London

Recommended 2024
Tax Lawyers
Recommended

Frederick Bjørn
Payne Hicks Beach
Tax Lawyers
London

Recommended 2024
Tax Lawyers
Recommended

Matthew Booth
Payne Hicks Beach
Family Lawyers
London

Recommended 2024
Family Lawyers
Recommended

Neasa Coen
Payne Hicks Beach
Tax Lawyers
London

Recommended 2024
Tax Lawyers
Recommended

Nick Grant
Payne Hicks Beach
Reputation & Privacy Lawyers
London

Recommended 2025
Reputation & Privacy Lawyers
Recommended

Charlotte Henshall
Payne Hicks Beach
Contentious Trust Lawyers
London

Recommended 2024
Contentious Trust Lawyers
Recommended

Clare Hetherington
Payne Hicks Beach
Tax Lawyers
London

Recommended 2024
Tax Lawyers
Recommended

Matt Ingham
Payne Hicks Beach
Immigration Lawyers
London

Recommended 2024
Immigration Lawyers
Recommended

Mark Jones
Payne Hicks Beach
Criminal Lawyers & White-Collar Crime
London

Recommended 2024
Criminal Lawyers & White-Collar Crime
Recommended

Charlotte Skea-Strachan
Payne Hicks Beach
Family Lawyers
London

Recommended 2024
Family Lawyers
Recommended

Henry Watkinson
Payne Hicks Beach
Criminal Lawyers & White-Collar Crime
London

Recommended 2024
Criminal Lawyers & White-Collar Crime
Recommended

Sarah Williams
Payne Hicks Beach
Family Lawyers
London

Recommended 2024
Family Lawyers
Rising star

Camellia Buckmaster
Payne Hicks Beach
Family Lawyers
London

Rising star 2024
Family Lawyers
Rising star

Dean Ryan
Payne Hicks Beach
Tax Lawyers
London

Rising star 2024
Tax Lawyers