The Today’s Family Lawyer podcast has achieved 10,000 downloads since launching, welcoming over 70 individuals, firms and business who contribute to the success of the family law sector.
Launched in 2022, the podcast has tackled topics as varied as cohabitation and domestic abuse, to nuptial agreements and technology. Amongst the most downloaded episodes are a discussion with Shoba Aziz, barrister at Great James St Chambers, who draws on her experience over 20 years in practice to discuss cases involving coercive control and emotional manipulation.
In the podcast she explains how narcissistic traits and gaslighting manifest within relationships, often leaving victims confused, isolated, and doubting their own reality. There is, she told podcast host David Opie, a critical need for joined-up support services, wider education among professionals, and greater societal awareness
The topic of drug and alcohol testing in courts was another popular episode, exploring the risks associated with over-reliance on testing data. Guests Paul Hunter, technical director of Forensic Testing Service, and Sarah Branson, a barrister at Coram Chambers, warned against considering testing evidence as an exact science when there are so many factors which can impact test results. Results should be considered in the round and in the context of the case, not necessarily as the silver bullet, they explained.
Practical issues surrounding high profile cases, including Potanin v Potanina, have proved popular, as have the views of professionals on a range of day to day topics including pensions on divorce, costs order in FDR proceedings and out of court settlements and private FDRs.
Organisations to have sat in the hotseat include solicitors’ charity LawCare, the former and current chairs of Resolution, the Nuffield Family Justice Observatory, the Legal Aid Practitioners Group, and CILEX, amongst many others.
The podcast has welcomed a host of high profile professionals including former Birmingham Law Society president and host of his own podcast Richard Port MBE, miscarriage campaigner Keeley Lengthorn, former law firm CEO Simon McCrum, best-selling author of the The Co-Parent Way, Marcie Shaoul, and June Venters KC, the first female solicitor to become Queen’s Counsel in 2006.
The podcast is hosted by Today’s Media managing director David Opie. Commenting on the milestone, he said: “I wasn’t quite sure what we’d achieve when we set out to create the podcast back in 2022; as a daily news publication it felt like the logical next step for us to build out the stories and give a voice to the important topics of the day.
“The podcast has the potential to achieve so much more in a 25-30 minute discussion, than we can ever say in short news article.
“In the last 18 months the legal sector has seen some sizeable stories develop across our portfolio of publications covering residential property, wills, probate, tax, trusts and estate planning and family law.
“We’ve reported on the Law Commission’s recommendations on modernising legislation governing will writing, updating legislation dating back to 1837, kept readers informed of major changes to how we buy and sell homes, and pertinently for family lawyers, we’re finally seeing progress on cohabitation reform… and that’s before you consider Mazur, client account, FCA AML regulation, practising certificate fee hikes, tax advisor registration, AI… the list goes on.
“In an age of fake news and misinformation, never before has credible, independent journalism been more critical, keeping professionals abreast of issues that affect their livelihoods every day. That’s a huge part of the ethos of the Today’s Family Lawyer podcast.”
The Today’s Family Lawyer podcast is available on Apple, Spotify, YouTube and podcast aggregator apps, subscribe to keep in touch with all upcoming episodes. A write up of every episode appears in Today’s Family Lawyer and in the weekly e-newsletter, out every Thursday.
If you’re interested in appearing as a guest on the podcast, or would like to find out about how you can sponsor the Today’s Family Lawyer podcast, please contact David Opie on 0330 1000 839 or email david.opie@todaysmedia.co.uk for more information.
