1 year on from the launch (almost)!
by Gemma Hope, Director at Family Law Partners
The Family Law Language Project - a campaign that seeks to make family law easier to understand by clients and their families, the family law community, the media and the general public – was launched in November 2021 by Emma Nash.
The Family Law Language Project was inspired by the 2020 ‘What about me?’ report by the Family Solutions Group, a sub-group of the Private Law Working Group, which itself was instigated by the President of the Family Division, Sir Andrew McFarlane to try and identify how the family justice system could be improved.
Working with Emma on the project’s steering committee are Sarah Harding, a partner at London firm Hodge Jones & Allen; Gemma Hope, a director at London and Sussex firm Family Law Partners; Ashley McCann, an associate at Scottish firm Gillespie McAndrew; Patrick Myers, formerly senior ambassador of the Reducing Parental Conflict programme at the Department for Work and Pensions; Ashleigh Spencer, an experienced freelance family solicitor, Yuliya Osudina, an associate at Kingsley Napley, James Evans of Our Family Wizard and Belinda Moseley of Cardiff law firm Hugh James.
Since the launch of the project, the committee members have worked tirelessly to promote the campaign by speaking at events, writing blogs and giving media interviews. Below is a summary of what the team have been up to over the last 12 months and some key milestones for the project to date.
Young Resolution – Autumn 2022 - The team are working with Resolution and Our Family Wizard to host a workshop at the national Young Resolution Conference.
Smart Divorce – Podcast with Tamsin Caine - The Family Law Language Project - https://smartdivorce.co.uk/the-family-law-language-project/
South Coast Family Alliance – May 2022 - Presentation at South Coast Family Alliance group meeting by Emma Nash and Gemma Hope.
Our Family Wizard Webinar - March 2022 - Emma Nash was one of the expert panellists at Our Family Wizard’s ‘Changing the landscape of family law for England and Wales in 2022’ webinar with James Evans as the moderator.
Legally Speaking Podcast – March 2022 - How can we make family law more accessible? – Interview with Emma Nash. https://legallyspeakingpodcast.com/how-can-we-make-family-more-accessible-emma-nash-s5e22/
The Review for Resolution – February 2022 - Article “Watch your language” by Emma Nash.
The Family Law Journal – January 2022 - Article “Reframing support for families following separation” by Gemma Hope.
The Times - December 2021 - How to ease the trauma of divorce by Emma Nash
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/how-to-ease-the-trauma-of-divorce-sfsxzdd8f
Legal Futures – December 2021 - The power of words, project aims to change the language of family law by Nick Rose
East Sussex Resolution – December 2021 - Presentation at East Sussex Resolution event by Emma Nash and Gemma Hope.
Family Law Hour on Twitter – November 2021 - Family Law Hour (@familylawhour), a monthly forum on Twitter for family law practitioners to discuss hot topics – November 2021 Twitter Hour hosted by Emma Nash.
Edward Fennell’s Legal Diary – November 2021 -https://edwardfennelllegaleventsdiary450111829.wordpress.com/2021/11/05/edward-fennells-legal-diary-80/
Eprivateclient – November 2021 - Law firm partner launches family law language project
https://www.paminsight.com/epc/article/uk-law-firm-partner-launches-family-law-language-project
Family Law Journal – November 2021 - Words have consequences: The Family Law Language Project by Emma Nash
The Scottish Law Journal – November 2021 - The Language of Family Law by Ashley McCann
https://www.lawscot.org.uk/members/journal/issues/vol-66-issue-11/the-language-of-family-law/
Family Law (Lexis Nexis) – November 2021 - Language Matters: time to reframe our national vocabulary for family breakdown by Helen Adam. The article includes a reference to Emma and the Family Law Language Project.
You can find out more about the work of the Family Law Language Project on Instagram and Twitter.
If you would like to contribute an article on a specific topic for the Family Law Language Project website please get in contact with us on our website or at info@thefamilylawlanguageproject.co.uk
