Christopher Garner has earned a BV-Distinguished peer review rating from Martindale-Hubbell, the top national ranking the organization awards, placing him among a select tier of attorneys in New Hampshire who have been evaluated and recognized by their professional peers. Garner Law Office, located at 7 Auburn St. in Nashua, NH 03064, has grown over more than three decades into a full-service general practice that handles family law, bankruptcy, estate planning, workers’ compensation, personal injury, and criminal defense. Clients reach the office at 603-882-8008. The firm’s breadth of practice reflects Christopher Garner’s approach: that a community-centered law practice should be equipped to handle the range of legal challenges that real families and individuals face, rather than serving only those whose problems fit a narrow specialty box.
What distinguishes this practice is the integration of alternative dispute resolution skills into an otherwise full-spectrum practice. Christopher Garner is both a trained family law mediator and a certified collaborative practitioner, credentials that matter most in family law cases where courtroom litigation produces outcomes that nobody fully wants. He also served as a Guardian ad Litem, a role that required him to represent the best interests of children in contested custody proceedings, a background that informs his understanding of how high-stakes family litigation affects the people at the center of it.
The office offers evening and weekend appointments and provides free consultations for most legal matters, an acknowledgment that legal crises do not conform to business hours and that access to counsel should not be limited by scheduling constraints.
Practice Areas
Divorce and Family Law
Garner Law Office has litigated hundreds of family law cases to final judgment. That depth of experience covers the full range of family law disputes: contested divorce, property division, alimony, child custody, child support, and visitation modifications. Christopher Garner approaches family law with an understanding of both litigation and negotiated resolution: he has the courtroom record to handle cases that must be tried, and the mediation and collaborative law credentials to pursue resolution outside the courthouse when doing so better serves the client.
Collaborative Practice and Family Mediation
As a certified collaborative practitioner and trained family law mediator, Christopher Garner offers alternatives to traditional litigation for clients whose circumstances make negotiated resolution preferable. Collaborative law brings both parties and their attorneys together in a structured process to reach agreement without court intervention. Family mediation uses a neutral mediator to facilitate dialogue between parties who have reached an impasse. Both approaches typically produce faster, less expensive, and less adversarial outcomes than contested litigation.
Bankruptcy and Debt Relief
The firm handles both Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy. Chapter 7 can eliminate qualifying unsecured debts, including credit card balances, medical bills, and personal loans, giving clients a fresh financial start. Chapter 13 allows clients to reorganize debt into a repayment plan and, critically, can be used to stop mortgage foreclosure and allow homeowners to catch up on missed payments over time. The firm helps clients evaluate which chapter is appropriate for their financial situation.
Workers’ Compensation
Workers injured on the job in New Hampshire have rights that their employers and their employers’ insurers have strong financial incentives to minimize. The firm represents injured workers in pursuing the benefits they are entitled to receive under New Hampshire’s workers’ compensation system, including medical coverage and wage replacement.
Personal Injury
The firm represents clients injured through the negligence of others, whether in vehicle accidents, slip and fall incidents, or other circumstances involving another party’s failure to exercise reasonable care.
Estate Planning
Estate planning services include wills, powers of attorney, and advance directives. The firm works with clients to ensure their assets are distributed according to their wishes and that their families are protected in the event of incapacity or death.
Criminal and DWI Defense
Criminal defense representation at Garner Law Office covers charges ranging from DWI to more serious offenses. The firm’s three-decade history of practice in New Hampshire means Christopher Garner has established familiarity with local courts and prosecutorial practices that benefits clients facing criminal charges.
Attorney Profiles
Christopher Garner has been practicing law in New Hampshire for more than 30 years. He is a trained family law mediator and a certified collaborative practitioner, two credentials that require formal training beyond a law degree and reflect a sustained investment in alternative dispute resolution as a legal discipline. He previously served as a Guardian ad Litem, representing children’s interests in contested custody proceedings. His Martindale-Hubbell BV-Distinguished peer review rating reflects evaluation by fellow attorneys and judges, and represents the highest tier of ranking the organization provides. He has litigated hundreds of family law matters to final judgment in New Hampshire courts, giving him a litigation record that anchors his willingness to negotiate: clients know he can go to trial if negotiation fails.
Location and Service Area
Garner Law Office is located at 7 Auburn St., Nashua, NH 03064, and serves clients throughout southern New Hampshire. Communities within the firm’s service area include Manchester, Hollis, Amherst, Hudson, Merrimack, Milford, Bedford, Salem, Derry, Goffstown, and Concord, as well as surrounding communities across the region.
Nashua is New Hampshire’s second-largest city and sits on the Massachusetts border, giving the firm geographic relevance to clients throughout the southern tier of the state. The firm’s client base extends beyond Nashua to serve a broad swath of southern New Hampshire communities that lack the density of large urban legal markets.
The office can be reached at 603-882-8008. Evening and weekend appointments are available, and free consultations are offered for most matters.
Client Focus
Garner Law Office serves individuals and families at inflection points: people going through divorce, workers who have been injured, families dealing with debt they cannot manage, individuals facing criminal charges, and people planning how to protect their assets and family. The common thread is that the clients coming through the door are dealing with something that carries real stakes for their lives: situations where the outcome of the legal matter will shape what comes next, not abstract legal questions.
The firm’s general practice model reflects a philosophy of accessibility. Rather than referring clients with “secondary” legal needs to other firms, Garner Law Office handles the range of matters that community clients actually face, often serving the same families across multiple matters over the years.
Evening and weekend appointment availability directly addresses one of the most common barriers to legal access: the inability of working clients to take time off during business hours. Free consultations for most matters remove the financial uncertainty that prevents many people from making the initial call to a lawyer.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between collaborative law and traditional divorce litigation?
In traditional divorce litigation, both parties hire attorneys and the dispute is resolved through court proceedings, with a judge making final decisions if the parties cannot reach agreement. In collaborative law, both parties and their attorneys commit contractually to resolving the matter outside of court, through structured meetings focused on reaching a negotiated settlement. The collaborative process typically involves additional professionals such as financial specialists and child development experts. If the collaborative process breaks down and litigation becomes necessary, both attorneys must withdraw, which creates a strong incentive for all parties to engage seriously in the collaborative process.
What is a BV-Distinguished Martindale-Hubbell rating?
Martindale-Hubbell is a legal directory that has evaluated attorneys for more than 150 years. Its peer review ratings are based on confidential evaluations submitted by other attorneys and judges. The BV-Distinguished rating is the highest tier the organization awards, reflecting strong professional competence and high ethical standards as assessed by peers in the legal community.
Can bankruptcy stop a foreclosure?
Yes. Filing for Chapter 13 bankruptcy triggers an automatic stay, which immediately halts foreclosure proceedings. Chapter 13 then allows a homeowner to propose a repayment plan that, if confirmed by the bankruptcy court, enables the borrower to catch up on missed mortgage payments over a period of three to five years while keeping the home. Whether bankruptcy is the right tool for a specific situation depends on the details of the homeowner’s finances and the stage of the foreclosure process.
What does it mean that Christopher Garner was a Guardian ad Litem?
A Guardian ad Litem is appointed by a court to represent the best interests of a child in legal proceedings, independent of what either parent wants. The role requires the ability to evaluate family dynamics, interview children and parents, and make recommendations to the court based solely on the child’s welfare. Having served in this capacity gives Christopher Garner a perspective on contested custody cases that differs from an attorney who has only ever represented one side.
Does the firm offer free consultations?
Free consultations are available for most matters. The office can be reached at 603-882-8008. Evening and weekend appointments are available for clients who cannot arrange meetings during standard business hours.
Closing
Three decades of practice in New Hampshire, a peer-reviewed national distinction, formal credentials in both mediation and collaborative law, and a practice structured to serve clients across the full range of legal challenges a family might face: Garner Law Office brings an unusual combination of depth and breadth to southern New Hampshire. Clients can reach the firm at 603-882-8008 or visit attorneygarner.com/ to learn more about the firm’s services and schedule a consultation.