David is a senior family partner with over 25 years’ experience in all aspects of family law, with a wealth of knowledge in the more complex financial divorces as well as intractable disputes involving children issues. He also has a great deal of expertise in drafting and breaking pre-nuptial agreements, both in the UK and abroad. Additionally, David advises on trust and wills disputes and every aspect of cohabiting relationship breakdowns.
David is a qualified mediator and collaborative lawyer with international experience in jurisdictions such as the US, UAE, France, Germany and India. David’s approach is to settle matters as quickly as possible and outside court if at all possible; however, where litigation is unavoidable, he has extensive experience in family court proceedings.
Expertise
- All aspects of children disputes
- Financial orders
- Mediation and ADR
- Pre- and post-nuptial agreements
- Issues in relation to cohabiting couples
- International divorce and dispute settlement
- Divorces including substantial family trusts
- All aspects of enforcement
- Private hearings to settle matters without court
- High-profile litigation
- Separation agreements
Experience
Family & Matrimonial
- Drafted a pre-nuptial agreement for a potential wife where the assets were worth over £1bn.
- Acted in the applications to freeze the assets of a husband where the properties and companies were spread out worldwide and the applications had to be made simultaneously in many jurisdictions.
- Acted in a complex and stressful High Court case to return a very young child to his famous parents when they were wrongly accused of child abuse.
- Acted in the divorce of a wife in her 80s where the husband was in his 90s.
- Acted in the fight for the son of a baronet who was born by artificial insemination and was initially adjudged not to be allowed to inherit the baronetcy.
International
- Acted for the wife in a complex divorce where the couple were in the UAE and the wife fled with the children to London.
- Managed the assets of a husband to protect his wealth in Singapore when the wife issued a divorce in London.
- Acted in a cross-border divorce between London and New York in a jurisdiction race (who ‘gets in’ first).
- Advised on a time-sensitive divorce petition issued in London for a wife whose husband was racing to issue in Paris (won by eight minutes and many millions depended on it).
Please note: The experience list above may include examples of work completed prior to joining Keystone Law.
Recognition
Recognised by The Legal 500 2025 for Family
Recognised by The Spear’s 500
Former Chair of London Region of Resolution (2015–2021)
Career
David qualified as a solicitor in 2000. Prior to joining Keystone Law in 2025, he worked at the following firms:
- Seddons
- BDB Pitmans
- Charles Russell Speechlys