This year’s Spear’s 500, the tenth edition of the guide to leading private client lawyers and service providers, includes Stewarts partners and senior associates from five of our practice area teams.
Our Divorce and Family, Trust and Probate Litigation, Tax Litigation and Resolution, Employment and Competition teams are represented in the latest edition of the directory. Managing Partner Stuart Dench features in the Spear’s Power List, showcasing the 100 most influential people in the world of private wealth.
Spear’s says of the 2025 edition of the 500: “Our aim in publishing this tome is clear: to provide the premier resource for HNWs in search of the highest-quality specialist advice and services to support their work, their lives, their families and their ambitions. We ensure that we achieve this goal by focusing – above all things – on the quality of the advisers and firms that we feature, and on the reliability of our rankings.”
Top Flight: Divorce and Family
Head of Divorce and Family Stephen Foster “has successfully led Stewarts’ phalanx of family lawyers to the top of the pack,” Spear’s reports in his Top Flight listing. The guide quotes industry commentators describing Stephen as “a great lateral thinker,” “an intelligent and superbly talented litigator” and “the go-to for complex financial proceedings’,” with one private client describing Stewarts as “the Slaughter and May of family law”.
Emma Hatley is again listed in the Top Flight – a previous recipient of the Spear’s Family Lawyer of the Year Award, she is recognised as having climbed “to new heights” since and as “having acted in several of the most complex cases pending in the High Court”.
Another previous Spear’s Award winner, Debbie Chism “possesses a formidable reputation for working on complex issues that arise from divorce,” including for “devising creative out-of-court methods to settle complex disputes.”

Top Recommended Family Lawyers
Head of Divorce and Family Leeds, Adrian Clossick “frequently advises professional and City based clients and is adept at advising in situations involving complex income arrangements, incentive plans and carried interests.” He is also highlighted for his role as Head of the Professional Practices Group at Stewarts.
Partner Richard Hogwood “has clients of all backgrounds and from all around the world, including France, the US, the UAE and Sweden.” Spear’s notes his sensitivity to the “human aspect” of family law proceedings as well as his technical expertise.
Carly Kinch likewise “has a diverse HNW client base”, and is highly recommended for her “detail-orientated approach to her complex family law cases, many of which involve high-value assets.”
Sophie Chapman “brings a constructive approach to all aspects of family law,” and Spear’s notes she is “particularly experienced in dealing with clients with inherited wealth and diverse portfolios covering different asset classes.”
“Recognised across the private wealth industries as a leader in his field,” Sam Longworth is highlighted for his role leading the team acting for the husband in Standish v Standish in which the wife’s award was reduced by £20m (45%), believed to be the largest-ever reduction to a divorce award by the English courts.
Tax Lawyers
David Pickstone, Head of Tax Litigation and Resolution and a Top Recommended tax lawyer by Spear’s, has worked on a number of cases with “the potential to change the way UK law is applied and are being watched by the market,” the guide notes.
Fellow partner James Le Gallais is also Top Recommended by Spear’s and “has drawn praise for his work supporting clients in their disputes against promoters of failed film financing schemes,” while also receiving recognition for commercial fraud and corporate disputes.
Employment
Head of Employment Joseph Lappin “regularly advises clients on grievance and disciplinary investigations” as well as a full range of employment law issues. “We work with clients to achieve both legal and non-legal objectives, so understanding what they want to achieve is paramount,” he says in the guide.
Charlie Thompson describes one of his strengths as “succeeding in difficult pieces of work that other lawyers have shied away from.” He is recognised by Spear’s as “an experienced employment lawyer who specialises in complex and high-value workplace disputes.”
Contentious Trusts
All four of our Trust and Probate Litigation partners are listed by Spear’s; Head of Department James Price is “frequently instructed to assist with court applications, both onshore and offshore,” and his practice is recognised as largely international in nature.
Geoff Kertesz recognises that “whether there is conflict within the family, tension within a trust structure, or illness or death has struck a family member, my clients need sound commercial guidance.”
Emma Holland likewise “specialises in disputes relating to private wealth matters, trusts and succession in jurisdictions around the world,” acting for “HNWs as well as trustees, companies and charities.”
Marcus Parker has “been instrumental in disputes over probate,” while his expertise in the Cayman Islands’ laws having worked there for eight years is highlighted: “he has managed many trust companies there.”
Divorce and Family: Recommended Lawyers
Partner Toby Atkinson has a “reliably international” practice: “as the capital has cemented its position as the world’s financial centre, more and more UHNWs have been drawn here, he says. “That’s led to a growing number of extremely high-value divorce awards.”
Lisette Dupré is also Recommended in the Spear’s 2025 guide. “A highly competent and knowledgeable specialist on cross-border and multi-jurisdictional cases,” she is also recognised for her work on professional bodies including as founder and chair of the European Union Law Working Group.
Matt Humphries “has specialised exclusively for over 25 years in resolving financial and children issues arising upon divorce or family breakdown,” and is noted by Spear’s as “recognising the emotional hardship often faced by clients going through difficult divorces.”
Lucy Stewart Gould recognises that HNW clients “need someone savvy, discreet and effective – which is what we do at Stewarts.” She is also highlighted for her work in Standish v Standish, and for a case clarifying the post-Brexit jurisdiction for divorce.
Senior Associate Ellie Hampson-Jones works with the aim “to always help clients look forward to a brighter future.” This requires her to find creative solutions, so her clients stay on the right track, “even when the temptation is to do otherwise”.
Cryptocurrency & Digital Assets
Partner Marc Jones “has made considerable industry strides in his work in cryptocurrency disputes,” as part of a broad track record of commercial disputes experience including “financial and banking disputes, fraud, litigation, professional negligence, asset tracing and contentious insolvency.”
Get in touch
If you require assistance from our team, please contact us or request a call back from one of our lawyers by submitting this form.
