Reimagining Family Justice 2026: Law, Evidence and Human Impact

On Thursday 24 September, Unit Chambers welcomed family justice professionals to Liverpool for our second annual Reimagining Family Justice conference.

Held at INNSiDE by Meliá Liverpool, this year’s conference brought together barristers, solicitors, academics, practitioners and those with lived experience to explore the theme ‘Law, Evidence and Human Impact’.

The aim was to look beyond traditional CPD and create space for conversations about the realities of family justice; how evidence is understood, how technology is changing the profession, how the system responds to vulnerability, and most importantly, the people at the centre of it.

Law, Evidence and Emerging Issues

The day opened with a keynote from Elizabeth Isaacs KC, who set the scene for the conversations that followed and reflected on the future of family justice.

The programme then moved into a wide range of issues currently facing the family justice system.

A session on domestic abuse brought together CEO and Head of Chambers Lisa Edmunds, Ben Dyer of Merseyside Police and Julia Gatie of National Centre for Domestic Violence to consider the challenges of identifying and responding to abuse within the family justice system.

We also looked at family justice in the public eye, with Bianca Castro from the Law Society, David Opie from Today’s Family Lawyer and Bella Tait from Unit Chambers exploring the relationship between the family courts, the media and public understanding of family law.

The role of AI in family law was another key theme, with Isabel Hawkins of Unit Chambers, Katie Atkinson from the University of Liverpool and James Evans from Nova Law exploring how rapidly developing technology could affect the way legal professionals work.

Alongside this, David Nicholson from DNA Legal and Claudia Saxton from Unit Chambers explored expert toxicology evidence, considering the role such evidence can play in family proceedings and the importance of understanding what it can - and cannot - tell us.

People at the Heart of Family Justice

The afternoon turned towards the experiences of those navigating the family justice system.

Our session on vulnerability, neurodiversity and compassion, supported by Communicourt, brought together Dr Becky Quicke, Bethany Ball and consultant barristers James Woods and Lara Webber to consider how professionals can better understand and respond to different needs within the court process.

The discussion around post-adoption contact also highlighted the human impact of decisions made within the family justice system, with consultant barristers Callum Hurley, Bella Tait and Isabel Hawkins exploring the realities of maintaining relationships after adoption.

We also heard about child-focused courts, with Jennifer Kelly from HMCTS, DJ David Hadley and DJ Lindsey Moan sharing their perspectives on how the court experience can be shaped around the needs of children and young people.

Ashley John-Baptiste’s Keynote

One of the most memorable parts of the day was our lived experience keynote from Ashley John-Baptiste.

Hearing directly from someone with personal experience of the care system brought a different perspective to many of the issues discussed throughout the conference. It was a powerful reminder that behind every case, piece of evidence and legal argument is a real person, and that the decisions made within the family justice system can have a lasting impact on their lives.

That perspective was central to the purpose of the conference - bringing professional expertise together with real human experiences.

Making Space for Wellbeing

Wellbeing was also built into the programme, with Elena from Yara Studios leading delegates through a short seated Pilates session during the conference.

It was a small but intentional part of the day, giving everyone an opportunity to step away from the discussions, move and reset before continuing with the programme.

For us, wellbeing is an important part of creating a sustainable family justice profession, and we wanted that to be reflected in the conference itself.

Thank You

A conference like this only works because of the people who contribute to it.

Thank you to all of our speakers for sharing their time, expertise and experiences, and to everyone who took part in the discussions.

We are also incredibly grateful to our sponsors and partners - DNA Legal, LexisNexis, Communicourt, Thornton Legal Recruitment, Yara Studios and Today’s Family Lawyer - for their support in bringing the day together.

And, of course, a huge thank you to everyone who attended.

The feedback we've received since the conference has been hugely encouraging, and we’re grateful to everyone who has taken the time to share their thoughts with us. If you haven’t done so yet, you can share your feedback here.

Continuing the Conversation

Reimagining Family Justice was created to bring people together to think about where family justice is now, and where it could go next.

This year's discussions reinforced the importance of looking at family law from more than one perspective. Legal knowledge and evidence remain fundamental, but so too are accessibility, technology, wellbeing, professional collaboration and an understanding of the human experiences behind the cases we work on.

We’re already looking ahead to how we can build on this year's conference and continue those conversations in the future.

Thank you to everyone who helped make Reimagining Family Justice 2026 what it was - see you next year!