Today's Family Lawyer Podcast

The Today's Family Lawyer podcast welcome Dan Warburton on to discuss the topic of leadership. Dan works with law firms leaders and partners to elevate their leadership skills to enable them empower staff to be more efficient and effective.  Dan describes his work as "the skill of profitable delegation;" to create leaders who can deliver high levels of performance across their team....

Marc Etherington joins the latest Today's Family Lawyer Podcast to discuss the upcoming changes to the Family Procedure Rules which will further embed non-court dispute resolution (NCDR) in the family justice and courts services.  Marc, the Legal Director at Rayden Solicitors, and a member of Resolution's National Committee, explains how The Family Procedure (Amendment No 2) Rules 2023 (...

The Today's Family Lawyer podcast welcomes well-known cohabitation reform specialist and campaigner Graeme Fraser on to discuss the next steps for legislative reform.  Graeme is a partner and head of the family team at William Sturges and Chair the Resolution Cohabitation committee. He decries the lack of legislation in this important, and growing area of family law. 1 in 3 first time buyers...

Recorded shortly after the Supreme Court ruling in the case of Potanin v Potanina [2024] UKSC 3, partner at Hunters Law LLP Richard Kershaw join Today's Family Lawyer podcast host to discuss the implications of the decision in the family law sphere.  Richard outlines the facts of case; both parties are Russian citizens who were born, lived, married and divorced in Russia until the wife obtain...

In this first episode of the second series of the Today's Family Lawyer podcast host David Opie discusses drug and alcohol testing with Paul Hunter, Technical Director of Forensic Testing Service, and Sarah Branson, a Barrister at Coram Chambers.  The discussion centres around the risks associated with over-reliance on testing data; which may seem a strange topic of discussion for a testing s...

There are lots of people we can bring into family matters that will add value and help the solicitor along the way; and potentially save the client time and money. To discuss the topic of collaborative family law Stacey St. Clair a partner in the family team at Debenhams Ottaway joins Today's Family Lawyer host David Opie.  Stacey discusses the question of how we identify who, and when, we ca...

The latest Today's Conveyancer podcast welcomes Nigel Shepherd on to discuss his role in, and view of, the implementation of The Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act (2020), best know as "No Fault Divorce." Nigel has ardently campaigned for over 20 years to reform divorce law; work which has seen him be the only person to have chaired Resolution twice; from the first Law Commissi...

In an extended episode of the Today's Family Lawyer Podcast host David Opie interviews June Venters KC, who has spent much of her legal career breaking down barriers promoting equal opportunities in the law.  In 1991 June launched Venters Solicitors, at a time when it was unusual for females to lead law firms.  And in 2006 she was the first female solicitor to become Queen's Counsel. Jun...

The latest Today's Family Lawyer podcast welcomes Sally Jackson of Sally Jackson Coaching, and Julia Moreno, a family lawyer at Keystone Law and a trained divorce coach, on to the podcast to discuss the topic of divorce coaches.  The increasing use of subject matter experts across family law has led to a rise in the number of divorce coaches working with family lawyers; and the feedback is ov...

The Today's Family Lawyer podcast welcomes Natasha Grande, Head of Family at Wilsons LLP, to discuss the impact of court delays on the day-to-day running of a busy family law practice with host David Opie.  Natasha explains that for most clients the two most important questions are how long is my matter going to take and how much is it going to cost? Historically, says Natasha, lawyers could...

Following a short break over the Summer, the Today's Family Lawyer podcast returns with host David Opie speaking with Simon McCrum. There isn't much Simon McCrum doesn't know about running a law firm having been there, done it, and got the t-Shirt. In this discussion Simon shares a little about his background and how he came to run the fastest growing law firms in the country before...

If we thought branding was about logos and then we’re absolutely wrong... it's about reputation, meaning, culture, service and so much more according to Matt Davies who joins host David Opie on the latest Today's Family Lawyer podcast. Matt lives and breathes branding and his enthusiasm for the subject comes across through this discussion which provides some useful pointers on what brand...

The True Worth Expert Vanessa Ugatti joins host David Opie on the latest Today's Family Lawyer Podcast. Vanessa works with professional services individual and organisations to help them understand their true value, and explain that better to clients to help them get paid their true worth, unapologetically. In her work Vanessa sees individuals and organisations constantly undercharging, under...

The Today's Family Lawyer podcast welcomes Nicola Rushton, Senior Associate at Forbes Solicitors in Lancashire, to discuss costs in financial remedy proceedings with host David Opie.  For Nicola, current costs rules don't provide any deterrent for litigants, and particularly litigants in person, to  run cases that don't have merit or are disproportionate to the assets.  In an intere...

The Today's Family Lawyer podcast welcomes Tara Dunne (OurFamilyWizard) and Pelumi Adeola (BHP Law) to discuss how technology is changing the narrative around adversarial divorce proceedings. Promoting positive communication between those separating, and their representation, is critical. Alongside the work being done through alternative dispute resolution and by organisations like Resolution...

Since 1993 Derek Parsons, a solicitor at RWK Goodman, has specialised in Child Abduction work and joins this latest Todays' Family Lawyer podcast to discuss his experience.  Derek explores the reasons why children can become removed from their homes and the work he does in ensuring they are protected. Broadly speaking much of Derek's work revolves around the Hague Convention, which prote...

The latest episode of the Today's Family Lawyer podcast welcomes James Brown, one half of Manchester headquartered Hall Brown Family Law.  In this edition James discusses the launch of Hall Brown, and how they have developed the strategy and business to become “simply the best in the North West” as a Legal 500 Tier One firm; a status they have achieved three years running, despite only launch...

In this latest Today's Family Lawyer podcast host David Opie is joined by family lawyer and domestic abuse specialist Richard Port MBE.  Richard is well known to many family lawyers and the wider family law community for his outspoken views, particularly on social media. He has also been awarded an MBE for his commitment to his specialism and on this podcast he shares some of his experiences,...

The latest Today's Family Lawyer podcast focuses on the tricky topic of ethics in family law. Joining host David Opie to discuss the ins and outs of the subject is Helen Young , head of the family team at Debenhams Ottaway.  With 30 years experience as a family practitioner, Helen brings a wealth of experience to the discussion. For many, instructing a family lawyer is a distress purchase. He...

In this latest episode of the Today's Family Lawyer podcast host David Opie is joined by National Association of Licensed Paralegal's (NALP) former CEO and now Patron Amanda Hamilton  Starting out running paralegal training programmes in the 90's, at a time when the term "paralegal" was starting to be used more regularly in the UK following its migration from America,  Ama...

In this latest Today's Family Lawyer podcast host David Opie is joined by Paula Backen. Paula is a qualified speech and language therapist and started working as an intermediary just over 10 years ago.  Since the set up of registered intermediaries for criminal witnesses in 2003, the role of the intermediary has developed but is still much misunderstood according to Paula.  The role of the in...

Recorded in November 2022 this Today's Family Lawyer Podcast features Head of Modern Families Department at Burgess Mee Natalie Sutherland discussing her work as a fertility and surrogacy law specialist and the launch of the Fertility Workplace Pledge; a commitment by business to better engage with the fertility challenges employees often face. The discussion covers her work and support for t...

With Resolution's "Good Divorce Week" in full swing this episode of the Today's Family Lawyer podcast sees host David Opie speak with Annabel Andreou, a family divorce lawyer at Debenhams Ottaway about the ins and outs of a "Good Divorce." Annabel discusses her thoughts on what a "Good Divorce" might look and feel like from a client and practitioners point o...

The government's decision to  reject almost all proposals for cohabitation law reform put forward in the Women and Equalities Committee’s recent report may be the result of an administration with bigger fish to fry but is disappointing nonetheless. In this latest podcast from Today's Family Lawyer, host David Opie speaks with Hunter Law LLP Partner Richard Kershaw about the myth of the c...

In this Today's Family Lawyer podcast, host David Opie is joined by baby-loss awareness campaigner Keeley Lengthorn.  Keeley is a partner at Taylor Rose MW and has spent much of 2022 campaigning for greater baby-loss awareness in UK employment conditions.  Keeley tells her own story which tragically involves her own loss and being the first person in the firm to be the beneficiary of the offi...