Mark Irving handles all aspects of private family law with a particular emphasis on complex financial and children cases, and those with an international dimension.
Mark has considerable experience advising clients in relation to financial claims upon the breakdown of marriage and other relationships. He is often instructed to advise on the care and living arrangements for children, and advises regularly on prenuptial and cohabitation agreements.
Mark has advised clients from a broad cross section of backgrounds and industries and has particular expertise in advising clients with substantial assets, offshore and corporate asset-holding structures, and where specialist valuation issues arise. He has extensive experience advising clients in the public eye and those with reputation management concerns, due to his experience in dealing with matrimonial litigation cases of a contentious nature relating to the valuation of music, literary or other intellectual property rights, and the valuation of technology and other business interests. Mark is known for leaving no stone unturned and goes to great lengths to get the right outcome for clients, meaning he and his team are always looking to identify innovative solutions, especially when it comes to challenging cases. Clients value Mark’s human touch, with an award winning tech client saying “What makes Mark extra special, is that he provided me with the support that I needed to stay resilient when the other side was using tactics to financially and emotionally wear me down. Mark is genuine and kind, and demonstrated his empathy for what my family and I were going through, which felt incredibly reassuring.”
Mark is a member of Resolution.
- Children disputes
- Civil partnerships
- Cohabitants’ financial claims
- Cross-border disputes
- Divorce and separation
- Financial claims on divorce
- Inherited and pre-marital assets
- Prenuptial and postnuptial agreements
- Reputation management
- Trusts and divorce claims
In the last 12 months Mark’s work highlights include:
- High Court finance case involving complex offshore trust/tax issues. Katie Cowton KC (QEB) said that the outstanding settlement would simply not have been possible without Mark’s “excellent strategic oversight”.
- Jurisdiction case in the new post-Brexit landscape between London and Monaco. Steward Leech KC (QEB) described the outcome as a “phenomenal result” and “in large part due to the faultless way in which Mark managed the case from the outset. It was a masterclass in how to fight a jurisdictional battle.”
- Children litigation case which included serious allegations regarding sexual abuse and domestic violence, with parallel criminal investigations. Mark’s attention to detail of the evidence was described by Barbara Mills KC (4PB) as “an outstanding demonstration of how to handle children litigation”.
- Acting for a number of high profile musicians and songwriters, dealing with complex music rights valuation issues. Mark has significant experience dealing with family litigation where the valuation of intellectual property rights arise, across a range of industries.
- Acting for tech company co-founder and entrepreneur, addressing financial claims and valuation issues arising upon the breakdown of their marriage. Mark regularly deals with complex business valuation and tax issues across sectors in the context of divorce and separation
- Acting for client involved in child proceedings relating to arrangements for the children where allegations of alienation and control are present.
- Acting for professional footballers and sportspeople dealing with variation of maintenance applications towards the end of their playing careers.
- Mark has been recognised as ‘Best of breed’ in The Spear’s 500 Guide (2019). You can see his profile here.
- 2013 Spear’s Young Turk Awards: Mark won the prestigious Family Lawyer of the Year Award. In winning the award, Mark was praised for his “judgement, diplomacy, speed and determination.”
- Mark was named as a ‘Rising Star’ in Spear’s Magazine Family Law Index in May 2015, a list of the country’s top 50 family lawyers and was ranked as one of the leading private client advisers in Spear’s 500 2016 index.
- In September 2016, Mark was listed in the ‘Top 35 Under 35’ eprivateclient index of leading practitioners within the private client legal, accounting and fiduciary sectors.
