Child custody battles during lockdown.

The family team at legal practice SAS Daniels asked us to help raise its profile. Already busy with the annual surge of post-Christmas divorce cases, they wanted us to focus on another area of their expertise. But what?

After conducting online research, we found that child custody issues were a ‘hot topic’ – in short, divorced and separated parents have been using lockdown as an excuse to restrict their ex-partners’ access to their children. 

We suggested this as a topic to the SAS Daniels team. It turned out they had lots of relevant experience but were a little concerned about how we could promote such a sensitive and emotive topic.  Despite their initial reservations, they trusted us.

Having discovered interesting statistics about the number of such cases in the UK compared to previous years, we drafted a press release with a regional slant. Although this was picked up by several publications and provided lots of social media content, we knew the topic was worthy of more in-depth attention.

Our instincts were right.  After pitching it to the producers of BBC Radio Manchester’s peak time Mike Sweeney Show, they dedicated an hour to the topic.  

Alongside our client Anita Scorah, head of family law at SAS Daniels, they invited a child psychologist and representative from Stand Alone, a charity that supports adults who are estranged from their families.  Anita was on top form, explaining the legal aspects of child custody in a clear way and dealing empathetically with the many calls that came in from listeners.