In this episode of the Today's Family Lawyer Podcast, host David Opie sits down with Carolyne Willow, a long-standing children’s rights advocate, founder of the charity Article 39, and a newly qualified family and public law barrister. Reflecting on a career that began as a 22-year-old child protection social worker, Carolyne shares her journey of fighting to place children at the absolute centre of the legal and statutory systems that govern their lives.

The discussion dives into the legal battles that have defined Willow's career. Following the public inquiry into the tragic death of Victoria Climbié, Willow, then leading the Children's Rights Alliance for England, successfully lobbied parliamentarians to secure a critical amendment to the Children Act. This ensured that statutory child protection investigations carried a strict duty to ascertain and consider the child's own wishes and feelings. Willow also speaks passionately about the ongoing campaign to remove the outdated 1860 parental defence of "reasonable chastisement" for physical assault, arguing that England remains shamefully behind Scotland, Wales, and dozens of countries worldwide in failing to give children equal protection under the law.

Willow has also presented evidence to major national inquiries detailing Article 39’s work during the pandemic, where the charity successfully mounted a Court of Appeal challenge against secondary legislation that diluted 65 different child safeguards. She also contributed to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), where she targeted the institutional abuse of children in custodial settings and campaigned fiercely against officially trained, pain-inducing restraint techniques.

Willow's journey takes her from from a council estate with no concept that she could ever become a barrister, through to completing her law conversion and bar exams in her late 50s while continuing to run her charity full-time. Now practicing at age 60, she views the bar as a powerful new vehicle to join the dots, challenge systemic failures, and continue her lifelong fight for children's integrity.

The Today's Family Lawyer podcast is available on your preferred podcast provider and at www.todaysfamilylawyer.co.uk.

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The latest Today's Family Lawyer podcast celebrates 25 years of legal support charity, Support Through Court.

Joining podcast host David Opie, are Emma Kiely, Service Manager for the charity’s Birmingham office, and Melanie Bataillard-Samuel, founder of MBS Family Law, current chair of Resolution and a dedicated fundraiser for the organisation.

With a dramatic rise in litigants in person navigating a complex and frequently hostile civil and family court landscape the charity has its work cut out. With little legal aid support ordinary individuals are being forced to handle life-altering court proceedings entirely on their own.

Support through Court offers practical, procedural, and emotional assistance, empowering vulnerable litigants by guiding them through administrative hurdles and offering human reassurance. The charity has a steady stream of passionate student volunteers gaining irreplaceable frontline legal experience through partnerships with institutions like Birmingham City University.

The work of the charity is compounded by the rise in "unbundled" legal services which allows lawyers to complete specific, component parts of a case to reduce client costs. But litigants in person still routinely fall through the cracks and Support Through Court is a "priceless" resource, much valued by the judiciary.

The podcast concludes with a call to action to continue fundraising and awareness efforts to protect a service facing unprecedented saturation.

The Today's Family Lawyer podcast is available on your preferred podcast provider and at www.todaysfamilylawyer.co.uk.

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.

In an exclusive interview with the Today's Family Lawyer Podcast Circe Law CEO Jade Gani explains why a newly-launched alliance is taking the Solicitors Regulation Authority to task on changes to the compliance regime, explaining how the proposals will disproportionately impact small and medium sized law firms.

As one of the founders of the SME & Boutique Law Firm Alliance Gani explains the group is not opposed to protections which would reduce the risk of notable recent failures including Axiom Ince and PM Law, but raises concerns the route proposed by the Solicitors Regulation Authority would not only not be effective, but would disproportionately impact boutique and high street law firms with a knock-on impact on access to justice, consumers choice, and diversity in the law.

As it stands, from January 2027 law firms with a turnover over £600,000 or over £2m in their client account will be required to separate the roles of Compliance Officer for Legal Practice (COLP) and Compliance Officer for Finance and Administration (COFA) from those with "unilateral decision making" responsibilities in the firm.

The group say they have asked for the rules changes to be paused while evidence of what risks are posed at the thresholds proposed is gathered. Gani adds the proposals are unworkable in smaller firms, around 15% of the overall number of regulated law firms, where there are no suitable alternative postholders.

So contentious is the debate, the Alliance has said it would call for a vote of no confidence in the leadership at the regulator should the proposals go ahead.

In an open letter and subsequent meeting with the SRA the group has proposed a number of alternatives which they say would have a more proportionate and effective impact.

In response the SRA has said it agreed with the need to better protect the public by strengthening the safeguards around client money and was "committed to continuing the conversation on this important issue" before responding further.

The Today's Wills and Probate podcast is available on your preferred podcast provider, and at www.todayswillsandprobate.co.uk. Subscribe today to hear all the latest news and views across the wills and probate sector.

The Today's Family Lawyer podcast is available on your preferred podcast provider and at www.todaysfamilylawyer.co.uk.

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.