Bio

Sarah is Partner in Lee & Thompson’s Corporate & Commercial Department and heads up the firm’s dedicated Art and Fashion groups. A general corporate and commercial practitioner with a specialism in the art, fashion and wider creative industries, Sarah joined Lee & Thompson in October 2017 after the firm acquired her boutique practice, Montgomery Barker. Sarah founded Montgomery Barker following a career in corporate law at international law firm Herbert Smith, and studying at the Sotheby’s Institute of Art. Sarah acts for various HNWIs and UHNWIs (including well-known entrepreneurs, YBAs, collectors and art dealers), and for a range of corporates from SMEs to PLCs (including global art dealerships, auction houses, fashion and beauty businesses, tech companies, creative media agencies, fashion agencies, art fairs, private members’ clubs and other events businesses). She also acts as trusted advisor to a number of high-profile individuals. Sarah is listed in Who’s Who, the recognised list of people influencing British life. Sarah continues to be recommended in Chambers & Partners research for Art & Cultural Property Law where she is noted by clients for being a “very good” and “first rate” lawyer and “a wonderful art professional” who is “very grounded in the industry and really understands the art world”. Legal 500 ranks Sarah for Art & Cultural Property Law where she is noted for being “…brilliant. Always available, super professional, creative, flexible and dedicated”, and for being “intelligent, sharp and extremely effective all-round”, with “in-depth knowledge of the art market and its nuances”. The Spears 500 lists Sarah in the Top Recommended Art Lawyers section as “Outstanding in field”. Sarah has lectured at the Sotheby’s Institute of Art. She has also written for Apollo Magazine. Sarah is a member of PAIAM (Professional Advisors to the International Art Market), AWITA (the Association of Women in the Arts) and the Institute of Art & Law. Sarah is the former Chairman of the Royal Academy Schools’ Patrons Committee, and she sat for three terms on the Arts & Heritage Giving Committee for one of the UK’s largest philanthropic foundations. Sarah currently sits on the CIRCA Advisory Council; a group of art industry experts supporting the ground breaking digital art projects broadcast at Piccadilly Circus as part of CIRCA 20:20.