Peter Burgess

Peter trained at top family law firm Withers LLP, where he qualified in 2005 as a family law solicitor. He continued working there until founding Burgess Mee with Antonia in 2013.  Peter is also a solicitor-advocate.

Peter is a trained Resolution and FMC Accredited mediator and has a flourishing dispute resolution practice.

Peter regularly advises on pre and post nuptial agreements, separation agreements and cohabitation agreements for high net worth individuals and new partners. 

Peter has been involved in High Court and Court of Protection proceedings and has experience of advising and acting on issues around capacity. He has had several cases involving controlling and coercive behaviour towards a spouse, and has experience of strategizing to minimise the impact.

Peter has also recently developed a practice of cases involving the difficult issue of physical and sexual abuse allegations being raised in fact finding hearings in children proceedings.

During his time at Withers, Peter was involved in many landmark cases including Charman, the largest reported payout by an English court, and Imerman v Tchenguiz, which changed the law on financial disclosure on divorce. He brings to bear his experience and discipline in every case, no matter how big or small.

Peter has been described by the legal directories as: 

“Peter Burgess is exceptionally calm under fire, pragmatic and commercial in his approach and extremely empathetic making him exceptionally good at supporting his clients’.”

"He is very bright, intuitive and has great judgement; he can see the wood for the trees and is able to cut through all of the distractions to get the client on board and see the bigger picture."

"Peter is great - steady, calm and has a knack for predicting the other sides next move."

"He is very meticulous and methodical, but at the same time he is very empathetic and easy to deal with. He is very good at dealing with the most vulnerable clients. I am always happy to refer clients to him."

"one of the best there is. Accessible and down to earth, but with a huge brain and appetite to commit to his clients and their case"

"Peter Burgess is a pleasure to deal with. He's really good with clients, he's really accessible and really collaborative."

"an extraordinarily sensitive, patient and accessible person who clients feel very confident in"

"a skilled mediator"  ,  "a very skilled negotiator" and "an outstanding lawyer "

"very passionate about what his clients want and believes in their story"

He has been recognised as a leading family lawyer in London by SuperLawyers, Citywealth and Spears Wealth Management Service and was nominated for 2018 Citywealth Future Leaders Family Lawyer of the Year - Partner.

Peter's clients have described him as "simply excellent", "extremely well informed, willing to put the time in to discuss matters at length" and "realistic about the options but showed a real flair". A former client of Peter's stated, "I owe Peter a huge life-debt: he literally came up with the formula which has enabled me to see my children in the intervening years". Another quoted "I quickly came to trust Peter’s strategic thinking and had complete confidence in his guidance. Whilst firmly at my side he always made me feel that the process was in my hands and could proceed at my pace where possible."

Peter is an active member of Resolution, a national member organisation for family lawyers. He was elected to the National Committee and is Co-Chair of the Drafting Committee, responsible for drafting precedents and sits on the Publication Board.

Peter also writes articles and speaks on family law and is a co-author of International Trust and Divorce Litigation, a leading text for lawyers on how complex international trusts have been treated by the divorce courts.