Charles Russell Speechlys

Spear’s Review

Charles Russell Speechlys is an international law firm with a focus on private capital, practising at the intersection of personal, family and business matters.

Headquartered in London with more than 200 partners and 1,300 staff working across 16 offices around the world, the firm brings an international outlook to advise on the full spectrum of HNW and UHNW needs. 

Its private client practice includes specialists in wealth structuring (including the establishment and administration of international asset holding structures); tax disputes and investigations; family law; immigration and citizenship planning; reputation and privacy; and property transactions, management and disputes. Clients – which include creators and owners of private wealth and their families, family businesses as well as major corporates and institutions – benefit from Charles Russell Speechlys’ wide network. Regional teams work with clients from and with interests in North America, Latin America, Africa, the Caribbean, India and China, along with various countries in Europe; where the firm does not have offices, it works with leading local law firms.

Company Profile

Charles Russell Speechlys is an international law firm with a distinctive focus on private wealth, advising high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth individuals, families, family offices, entrepreneurs, trustees and philanthropists across their personal, family and business interests.

We help clients create, manage, protect and transfer wealth across generations. Our private wealth specialists advise on trusts, tax, succession planning, governance, estate planning and family investment structures, supporting clients whose affairs often span multiple jurisdictions, asset classes and ownership structures.

Many of our clients are entrepreneurs, business owners and internationally mobile families whose personal, family and commercial interests are closely connected. We are particularly valued for our ability to provide advice that reflects the full picture of a client’s affairs rather than a single legal issue in isolation.

Family offices are a key part of our practice. We advise on governance, succession, investment structures, family charters, operating businesses and next-generation planning, working closely with principals and their wider adviser networks. We also support philanthropists, foundations and purpose-led families in building charitable structures and creating meaningful, long-term legacies.

Our family and private wealth teams work together to advise on relationship agreements, wealth protection planning, international divorce, financial settlements and matters involving children. We also advise on significant residential, rural and investment property matters, acting for individuals, families, family offices, landed estates and investors in the UK and internationally.

What distinguishes Charles Russell Speechlys is the breadth of expertise available to our clients. Beyond private wealth, we advise on corporate transactions, banking and finance, private capital investments, commercial arrangements, real estate, employment, immigration, intellectual property, financial services regulation, construction and projects, disputes and tax.

This breadth enables us to provide genuinely joined-up advice. Whether a client is selling a business, acquiring property, structuring investments, relocating internationally, resolving a dispute or planning for future generations, we bring together specialists from across the firm to deliver a seamless service.

Headquartered in London, with offices across the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Asia, we support clients wherever their interests take them. Our international reach, combined with deep local expertise, enables us to advise confidently on complex cross-border matters.

Clients choose Charles Russell Speechlys for the strength of its private wealth expertise, the breadth of its full-service capability and the way its lawyers collaborate around each client’s wider objectives. Across disciplines and jurisdictions, our teams bring technical excellence, commercial judgement and a deep understanding of clients’ personal, family and business ambitions.

Our ability to combine leading private wealth advice with expertise across corporate transactions, private capital investments, real estate, disputes, immigration, employment and regulatory matters enables us to provide genuinely joined-up advice. Whether supporting a family office, entrepreneur, philanthropist, trustee, business owner or corporate institution, we bring together the right specialists to deliver seamless solutions to complex issues.

Our approach is long term, discreet and highly personal. We work closely with clients, their families, family offices and wider adviser networks to help preserve wealth, support business ambitions, navigate change and plan for future generations.