Simons Muirhead Burton‘s family team, led by Jane McDonagh and Tom Farley-Hills, is distinguished by its niche in acting for clients within the music, sport, and media sectors, working closely with reputation management. Farley-Hills is noted for his ’encyclopaedic knowledge of the music and sport industries’, as well as extensive experience advising on nuptial agreements. McDonagh’s clients are often high-net-worth entrepreneurs, media professionals, or individuals with substantial international ties, particularly to the Middle East, Pakistan, Ukraine, and Switzerland. Tessa Bray, a mediator and fluent French speaker, has a strong practice in Anglo-French family matters, and Sarah Harding’s caseload often features complex corporate and international elements, as well as having a particular interest in intervenor disputes involving third parties.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Accolades

Client satisfaction

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • ‘Tom Farley-Hills is the key partner. He is a savvy operator with encyclopaedic knowledge of the music and sport sectors. Always pragmatic but not afraid of a fight.’

  • ‘Sarah Harding is an excellent solicitor. She is very reassuring to clients. She is particularly good at technical cases, involving areas of financial remedy practice that are legally or technically complicated (such as TOLATA proceedings). I would not hesitate to recommend her.’

  • ‘The team is an absolute powerhouse in the London divorce world. They handle some of the heaviest and most complex cases for celebrities, captains of industry, and all those in between. They do so with ease but without fanfare.'

  • ‘Sarah Harding is a superb solicitor. She quite literally works night and day to get the very best outcomes for her clients and is extremely down-to-earth and easy to work with. She is much loved by her clients and counsel alike.’

  • ‘Sarah Harding is a pleasure to work with. Not only does she always have a firm grasp of the case at hand, she is really constructive to deal with even in the most high-conflict matters. Sarah is calm and professional.'

  • ‘Tessa Bray is incredibly diligent and works tirelessly for clients. She is in equal measure tough and human. She is also very straight-talking and clear in her advice. She is a very safe pair of hands - you know things will be resolved sensibly when Tessa is on the other side of a matter.’

Lawyers

Leading partners

The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.

Tom Farley-Hills

Practice head

Jane McDonagh; Tom Farley-Hills

Other key lawyers

Tessa Bray; Sarah Harding; Lara Wulwik