Exchange Chambers welcomes family silk as Door Tenant

April 21, 2017

Exchange Chambers has welcomed family law specialist Damian Garrido QC as a door tenant.

Damian was born and educated in Manchester before heading south to undertake his degree and train for the Bar. He has practiced from Chambers in Temple for 23 years, establishing a strong reputation for providing sound, practical advice, constructive negotiation and robust, persuasive advocacy. His recruitment by Exchange Chambers brings his breadth of experience in both child and financial family law back to the North for clients who want the expertise of a London silk with the convenience of local Chambers.

He has particular expertise in applications for financial remedy following divorce, notably where complexities arise due to the nature and value of the parties’ assets and sources of income (e.g. private businesses or family trusts) and/or difficulties caused by bankruptcy, third-party intervention and/or an international element.  He is similarly experienced in cases involving nuptial agreements, cohabitation, civil partnerships and child maintenance.

He often represents parties in parental disputes about children, particularly in the difficult and sensitive area of international child abduction (both Hague and non-convention cases) and relocation (both international and internal).  He has co-written the leading textbook on child relocation, now in its 2nd edition.  His forensic skills are also in demand in cases of parental and grandparental alienation, and where serious allegations are raised against a parent or other carer.

Damian is also a Recorder sitting part-time as a judge in the Family Court and is authorised to sit as a Deputy High Court Judge in the Family Division. He undertakes private FDRs and early neutral evaluations, and represents clients in arbitrations, for those wishing to resolve family disputes outside the formal court system.

He remains a full member at Harcourt Chambers in London and Oxford.