Elizabeth is a director at Family Law in Partnership. She specialises in all areas of family law and has a particular focus in advising HNW and UHNW clients on complex cross jurisdictional issues of family, matrimonial and trusts law.

Elizabeth’s work includes divorce, contested financial remedy cases and asset protection, often involving international aspects. Elizabeth also advises on complicated private Children Act cases and Pre and Post Marital Agreements with both domestic and international aspects. Elizabeth’s clients include husbands and wives, cohabitants and sometimes children. They come from a range of backgrounds and include entrepreneurs, City professionals and various high profile individuals and their spouses and partners.

As a trained collaborative lawyer, Elizabeth is experienced in using the collaborative process to resolve family law matters. She often prepares Pre and Post Marital Agreements using the collaborative process including those agreements which have an international aspect.

A highly regarded family lawyer, Elizabeth is ranked in Band 1 for Family/Matrimonial work in both Chambers High Net Worth 2021, 2020 and Chambers UK 2021. The Legal 500 UK 2021 and 2022 ranks Elizabeth in its “Hall of Fame” of Leading Individuals in family law noting: “Elizabeth Hicks is a true star of her generation….a standout practitioner. She is the whole package, technically good, has warmth in abundance and is completely committed to her clients” and “Elizabeth Hicks  is a  great hire and has an excellent reputation”. 

Elizabeth was named as a Top Recommended Family Lawyer in The Spear’s 500 guide to the top private client advisers (2020, 2021 and 2022). The 2023 edition of UK Best Lawyers has also named Elizabeth as ‘Lawyer of the Year 2023′.

Chambers UK 2021 comments of Elizabeth: “Elizabeth Hicks is well regarded for her strong advocacy skills in divorce proceedings….”I would particularly like to highlight her ability to make a client feel listened to and heard.” “She is calm and considered, personal yet professional. She has the knowledge but the ability to talk in lay terms.” “She is doing some incredibly impressive cases of very high value.” Chambers HNW 2021 comments Elizabeth “has the ability to fight hard for her clients but she also sees creative solutions for them. She looks at cases holistically”. 

Elizabeth is a fellow of the International Academy of Family Lawyers and has been actively involved in arranging a number of their Education programmes. She is a member of Resolution, the Creative Divorces Collaborative Pod and the London Welsh Lawyers Association. Elizabeth is a native English and Welsh speaker, and is proficient in French.

Elizabeth has spoken at numerous conferences and is often interviewed by the press on key family issues. She has featured in the International Family Offices Journal, Citywealth and the Law Society Gazette amongst others.

Elizabeth was shortlisted and received the Silver award in the CityWealth PowerWomen Mentor of the Year 2020. As the only member from her family to go to University she is keen to demonstrate that success in life is about what you know and not who you know. She currently chairs LEDLET, a charitable association whose President is Lord Justice Lloyd Jones, which provides opportunities for 17 year old underprivileged children from Wales  to spend time with lawyers in Cardiff and London.

Having qualified as a solicitor in 1995, Elizabeth joined Kingsley Napley where she became a partner in 2001, before joining Irwin Mitchell where she spent over ten years as Head of Family in London. Elizabeth joined FLiP from Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner where she was Head of Family Asset Protection.

Elizabeth’s recent cases include:

• Acting for a multi millionaire on an international pre nuptial agreement using the collaborative process. Elizabeth instructed lawyers in 4 other countries in order to prepare a pre nuptial agreement with which both parties were happy and which, if ever challenged, would be upheld in numerous different European countries.
• Acting for the wife of an entrepreneur who was struggling to accept the marriage was over and who failed to provide the financial information needed to enable a settlement to be reached. Forensic accountants were instructed to value the husband’s business and various court orders made against him to provide disclosure. Elizabeth was able to negotiate a financial settlement which provided her client with financial security for life.
• Acting for a mother who wanted to relocate her child temporarily to another European country. The father applied for an urgent injunction preventing her from doing so. Elizabeth successfully negotiated terms on most matters and the Judge found in the mother’s favour on the few remaining issues. The mother and son were able to relocate temporarily 2 days after the court hearing.

Elizabeth’s reported cases include:

• Acting for an international multi-millionaire at first instance and in the Court of Appeal on the confidentiality and privacy of family law proceedings – Clibbery-v- Allan-[2001] 2 FLR 819; Clibbery-v- Allen [no 2] EWCA Civ45.
• Acting at first instance and in the Court of Appeal on the issue of joinder of third parties to financial remedy proceedings and whether the applicable rules were the Family Proceedings Rules or the Civil Procedure Rules – Goldstone –v- Goldstone [2011] EWCA Civ 39.
• Acting for the beneficiary wife of 11 discretionary trusts in a short marriage case with one child where the husband argued unsuccessfully that they were a resource such that they should have an impact on the level of financial provision she received – G –v-G [2012] EWHC 167 (Fam).
• Acting for the appellate wife in the Court of Appeal in Ahmed –v- Mustafa [2014] EWCA Civ 277 concerning the validity of an Order made in England and Wales preventing the wife from being able to pursue her divorce in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.