Informing better working with clients in crisis

Informing better working with clients in crisis

Divorce coach, five-time bestselling author, founder of the International Divorce Coach Centre of Excellence, and an advocate for domestic abuse awareness, Sara Davison joins the Today's Family Lawyer podcast for a wide ranging discussion exploring the growing role of divorce coaches within the family justice landscape and explaining how family lawyers and coaches can work together to better support clients Davison's own story is deeply personal. Following the sudden collapse of her marriage, which involved infidelity, the breakdown of a shared business, and the challenges of becoming a single parent, she struggled to find practical support that addressed the emotional realities of separation. Combining her background in business and life coaching with her own experiences, she developed a range of coaching tools designed to help people recover from heartbreak and navigate divorce more effectively. Those tools eventually formed the basis of her bestselling book Uncoupling and the coaching methodology she uses today. Davison is keen to point to the distinct roles family lawyers and divorce coaches play, emphasising coaches do not provide legal advice; instead, they focus on the emotional, psychological and practical challenges clients face during separation. By helping individuals manage grief, fear, anger and anxiety, coaches can enable clients to make clearer decisions and engage more constructively in the legal process. This complementary relationship allows lawyers to focus on legal strategy while coaches help clients regulate emotions and overcome obstacles that might otherwise delay or complicate proceedings. It's a scientific process; many clients become overwhelmed by fear, loneliness, or decision paralysis, particularly when children are involved. Divorce coaches can provide practical techniques to help individuals regain confidence, process difficult emotions and approach decisions with greater clarity. The discussion also highlights how unresolved emotional trauma can affect a client's ability to participate effectively in their case.  The discussion turns to domestic abuse, and the rise of technology-facilitated abuse monitoring, controlling or intimidating former partners, creating new challenges for both victims and legal professionals.  The final word highlights the emotional toll that complex and high-conflict cases can have on family lawyers themselves. She advocates for improved awareness, training and self-care practices to help professionals manage the demands of working with vulnerable clients and difficult situations. Davison's own courses provide family lawyers with the tools to improve understanding of relationship breakdown, domestic abuse and trauma-informed client care. Find out more here: Breakup, Divorce & Domestic Abuse Awareness Accreditation CPD-Accredited Training for Family Law Professionals [https://coaching.saradavison.com/family-law?am_id=david1231] The Today's Family Lawyer podcast is available on your preferred podcast provider and at www.todaysfamilylawyer.co.uk [https://todaysfamilylawyer.co.uk/todays-family-lawyer-podcast/].  Subscribe to Today's Family Lawyer to receive our FREE weekly newsletter, out every Thursday and listen in to the podcast to hear all the latest news and views from across the family law sector. Thank you to our Podcast Sponsors LEAP.

Improving enablement of participation in court

The latest Today’s Family Lawyer Podcast turns its attention to a role that is often misunderstood and undervalued in the courts system; that of intermediaries. Intermediaries play an important role in supporting better, and more informed participation in courts.  Rachel Cohen, director at the Intermediary Cooperative and a communication specialist, joins host David Opie to discuss the work of intermediaries in supporting witnesses, parents and participants whose communication needs make the court environment overwhelming Cohen brings more than a decade’s experience to the role which in her words is “really narrow and very specific… simply to ensure that everybody understands what a person’s communication needs are and how most effectively they can interact with that vulnerable person.”  The discussion highlights a shift in judicial awareness. Neurodivergence, brain injury, developmental language disorder and situational communication difficulties are now better recognised, but assumptions still creep in. Intermediaries are still left out of ground rules hearings, despite this being the very stage where their input can prevent later disruption. “It’s a brilliant time and opportunity to plan… when we’re not invited, we can be kept out of the loop.” How can the criminal and family courts best work with intermediaries? Early engagement, says Cohen. Late referrals, sometimes just days before a hearing, leave little time to build rapport, assess fluctuating communication needs or simplify documents into accessible formats. The result can be adjournments, inefficiency and avoidable stress for vulnerable court users. With further insight into vulnerability, neurodivergence and participation measures the podcast reminds family lawyers that participation is not a luxury, but a legal necessity. The Today's Family Lawyer podcast is available on your preferred podcast provider and at www.todaysfamilylawyer.co.uk [https://todaysfamilylawyer.co.uk/todays-family-lawyer-podcast/].  Subscribe to Today's Family Lawyer to receive our FREE weekly newsletter, out every Thursday and listen in to the podcast to hear all the latest news and views from across the family law sector. Thank you to our Podcast Sponsors LEAP.

CILEX CEO Interview: "I was in the job for 16 days before Mazur..."

After a baptism of fire when just 16 days into her new role as CEO of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEX) Jennifer Coupland was thrust into one of the biggest crises legal services has faced since the Legal Services Act with the Mazur ruling and subsequent appeal. In a wide ranging discussion on the Today's Family Lawyer Podcast, Coupland discusses how she handled the immediate aftermath of the decision, the appeal, and how she plans to shape the organisation going forward after plans to bring CILEX under SRA regulation were shelved. She leads CILEX after a successful period running the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education, transforming the perception of apprenticeships into a respected and sought-after career route. She sees strong parallels with CILEX’s model of “earning while learning,” which she believes is vital for improving diversity and accessibility in the legal profession. Although CILEX was ultimately successful in its Mazur appeal, the ordeal was a "really, really tough 10 months for some of our members" says Coupland who adds the case exposed outdated aspects of the Legal Services Act 2007 and advocates for a sector-wide review to modernise legislation. Through the course of the podcast she also highlights the need to improve consumer understanding of legal services, particularly awareness of specialist providers and the importance of quality, regulation, and affordability. Internally, Coupland has navigated challenges around potential regulatory alignment with bodies like the SRA, ultimately pausing plans but maintaining a commitment to reducing duplication and complexity. Looking ahead, CILEX’s five-year strategy focuses on growth, education, influencing legal reform, and raising the organisation’s profile, with member engagement seen as crucial to its future direction.  The Today's Family Lawyer podcast is available on your preferred podcast provider and at www.todaysfamilylawyer.co.uk [https://todaysfamilylawyer.co.uk/todays-family-lawyer-podcast/].  Subscribe to Today's Family Lawyer to receive our FREE weekly newsletter, out every Thursday and listen in to the podcast to hear all the latest news and views from across the family law sector. Thank you to our Podcast Sponsors LEAP.

From conflict to co‑parenting

A quiet revolution is underway in family justice. In this episode of the Today’s Family Lawyer Podcast, James Evans, Head of Strategic Growth at Nova and trustee of the newly launched Separated Parenting Programme Directory, explains why a long‑standing gap in support for separated families has finally been closed. For years, high‑quality parenting programmes have existed across England and Wales, but parents and practitioners struggled to find them. Provision was patchy. Quality varied. And in an unregulated space, it was difficult to know which programmes genuinely helped families reduce conflict and protect children. A new Separated Parenting Programme Directory (SPPD) [https://separatedparentingprogrammedirectory.org/] changes that. Evans sets out how a coalition of leading figures, including Helen Adam, Elizabeth Coe, Beverly Sayers and Denise Ingamells, came together to build the first national, quality‑assured directory of separated parenting programmes. Their goal: to give families clear, trusted routes to early intervention, and to give professionals confidence in what they are signposting. The directory allows parents and practitioners to search by region, delivery style, cost and programme type. Crucially, every listed programme meets agreed standards developed by experts with decades of experience in mediation, child contact and co‑parenting support. Evans argues that the timing is critical. With court delays worsening and non‑court dispute resolution becoming central to the Family Procedure Rules, early access to effective parenting programmes can prevent cases escalating into litigation. The evidence, he says, is clear: the earlier parents engage with structured support, the more likely they are to resolve issues without going to court. But the work isn’t finished. The charity now needs funding, wider awareness, and more programme providers to join the directory. As Evans puts it, launching the platform is only “the first domino”. The Today's Family Lawyer podcast is available on your preferred podcast provider and at www.todaysfamilylawyer.co.uk [https://todaysfamilylawyer.co.uk/todays-family-lawyer-podcast/].  Subscribe to Today's Family Lawyer to receive our FREE weekly newsletter, out every Thursday and listen in to the podcast to hear all the latest news and views from across the family law sector. Thank you to our Podcast Sponsors LEAP.

The "motherhood penalty" and the legal profession

The latest Today’s Family Lawyer Podcast turns its attention to one of the profession’s most persistent, and least openly discussed, challenges: the impact of maternity leave on women’s careers in law.  While the legal sector is not alone in perpetuating the motherhood penalty, the measurable career disadvantage experienced by women after having children, the podcast explores the unique pressure the legal sector presents around billable hours, PQE structures and the absence of traditional line management which compound the issue.  Returning mothers must “claw back” work, visibility and confidence say Sara Lyons and Hannah Bradshaw, former employment lawyers and co‑founders of Blue Sky; both of whom have personally experienced the issue and who now coach hundreds of female lawyers going through similar experiences.  Lyons and Bradshaw are clear; this is not a theoretical concept, nor a “woke invention”, but an economic and structural reality that continues to shape women’s progression in the legal sector. 78% of women on their programme report experiencing the motherhood penalty, while 77.8% worry about the impact of maternity leave on their long‑term career prospects. These figures, they argue, should be a wake‑up call for firms that still consider themselves “equal opportunities employers” while operating within systems that are anything but gender‑neutral. There is a cultural discomfort that surrounds maternity‑related discussions in law firms they say. Silence is damaging; women want clarity, support and honest dialogue about career progression, not well‑meaning but vague reassurances. “You can have it all... just not all at the same time" is the mantra firms and employees need to adopt.  The Today's Family Lawyer podcast is available on your preferred podcast provider and at www.todaysfamilylawyer.co.uk [https://todaysfamilylawyer.co.uk/todays-family-lawyer-podcast/].  Subscribe to Today's Family Lawyer to receive our FREE weekly newsletter, out every Thursday and listen in to the podcast to hear all the latest news and views from across the family law sector. Thank you to our Podcast Sponsors LEAP.