Edward M. Castro CFLS

Edward Castro has devoted his entire legal career to the practice of family law in San Diego County and has joined Holstrom, Block & Parke, A Professional Law Corporation in 2021 as a Partner.

Upon graduating from law school, Mr. Castro initially focused his practice in the area of domestic violence prevention. Early in his career, Mr. Castro worked with the nonprofit San Diego Volunteer Lawyers Program (SDVLP) to supervise their domestic violence restraining order clinic at the East County Courthouse of the San Diego County Superior Court.

Thereafter, again in association with SDVLP, Mr. Castro supervised and coordinated the Family Law Access Project (FLAP) at the San Diego County Family Court. In San Diego County, FLAP served as a courthouse-based family law and mediation clinic providing legal advice and assistance to unrepresented litigants. During his tenure at FLAP, Mr. Castro increased the program’s capacity to assist unrepresented litigants severalfold. FLAP was ultimately displaced by the Family Law Facilitator, a public program that provided the same services.

After leaving FLAP, Mr. Castro joined the YWCA Legal Advocacy Program as a senior staff attorney and their family law litigator. The YWCA Legal Advocacy Program’s core mission was the prevention of domestic violence through direct legal representation of victims in Family Court. During his six years at the YWCA, Mr. Castro represented clients in a diverse range of family law matters. Those matters included divorce and paternity actions, high conflict child custody disputes, disputed child and spousal support matters, division of complex marital estates, contested domestic violence restraining order applications, and appellate review of family court decisions. During his tenure at the YWCA, Mr. Castro developed substantial experience and expertise in trial practice given the challenge of finding common ground in cases touched by domestic violence.

In 2010, Mr. Castro joined the Law Offices of Beatrice L. Snider, A Professional Corporation (BLSAPC) where he served for 10 ½ years. BLSAPC’s clientele consisted largely of litigants having high net-worth estates. In 2014, Mr. Castro was elevated to partner. During his time at BLSAPC, Mr. Castro acquired substantial experience addressing issues uniquely routine to high net-worth cases. Those issues included business valuation disputes, complex income analyses of large business owners, tracing litigant claims through multiple transactions, asset protection trusts, and offshore interests. Mr. Castro also acquired particularized knowledge and experience regarding the retention and use of forensic experts in family court proceedings. Lastly, Mr. Castro acquired experience with numerous longer trials (5 days or longer) and continuing experience with appellate review of family court decisions (11 appeals/writs in 10 ½ years).

Mr. Castro was awarded his Juris Doctor degree from the University of San Diego School of Law in 1993 and his Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale University in 1982. He is currently certified as a Specialist in the area of Family Law by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization. His professional associations include the California State Bar, the San Diego County Bar Association, the San Diego Family Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the Association of Certified Family Law Specialists, and the Foothills Bar Association.