Facing the family justice system? New podcast from Chloe Lee demystifies current hot topics

Voices of Family Law is a new podcast aimed at helping demystify family justice for those who come into contact with it

How do we fix our broken legal system? How do we protect our values and protect the vulnerable in society? How do we give people a voice?

These are the questions which Chloe Lee, one of our current caseworkers, seeks to answer through her brand new podcast, Voices of Family Law.

Speaking to guests ranging from family law barristers, charities, and university lecturers, Chloe sheds light on the ongoing problems faced by the public with gaining access to justice in family law, as well as channelling misconceptions about the UK justice system.

"I spend quite a lot of time as a lawyer explaining what a lawyer is and how a lawyer works" – Lucy Reed, Family Law Barrister and Deputy District Judge

There is no doubt that the law is inaccessible to many, with non-lawyers struggling to navigate the family system. This is where the Transparency Project comes in. With more and more lawyers getting fed up with inaccurate headlines about things going wrong in court, barrister Lucy Reed felt that the problem was not merely correcting these headlines, but providing the public with more information about how family law barristers work.

Lucy shares in Chloe’s desire to educate the public about the work of family law barristers, challenging the commonly held notion that barristers are elitist, upper class, and don’t care about their clients. Huge chunks of the legal profession genuinely want to make a difference to the clients they represent, and Chloe’s conversation with Lucy brings to light just that.

"The justice system is unaffordable to many… destruction to legal aid has left many vulnerable" – Chloe Lee

Often the most vulnerable in society are forced to represent themselves at court, lacking the support to be able to deal with the court process. Chloe’s conversation with Cyrus Larizadeh QC (Vice-Chair, Family Law Bar Association) shows that the main issue these people face is not having the experience of advocacy, with the work of the Advocacy and the Vulnerable programme seeking to support vulnerable adults and children with their emotional difficulties throughout the court process. These are problems real families face on a daily basis, problems which Chloe brings into the public eye in this episode.

"Children come out with incredibly profound observations about human rights" – Aoife Daly, Lecturer at University of Liverpool

Chloe’s conversation with Aoife Daly, Senior Lecturer at the School of Law and Social Justice at the University of Liverpool, provides hope for the future of educating ordinary people about family law.  Aoife has put an unorthodox spin on educating children about human rights, through arts and crafts in primary schools. The profound responses of these children has even taught the Professor a thing or two about human rights, and we all have something to learn by listening to their fascinating conversation.

Chloe Lee is a Legal Education Foundation-funded Justice First Fellow, current caseworker at Advocate and future pupil barrister at Spire Barristers in Leeds. Her podcast is a project she is undertaking as part of her fellowship, aligning with her commitment to supporting the most vulnerable people in society.

The first four episodes are available now, addressing issues such as Legal Aid, LASPO, transparency in the courts and the voice of the child in proceedings. You can listen to her conversations with these inspiring individuals, and more, through:                          

Voices of Family Law website, iTunes, or Spotify

Follow @VoicesofFamLaw on Twitter for regular updates about the podcast too.