Podcast Episode 1: The Trailer

JH: Hello and welcome to the Family Five Podcast with Ivy Law Group, where we tackle the tough family law issues in the time it takes you to drink your coffee. I’m Jessica Hamilton, I’m the Marketing Manager for Ivy Law Group, and I’m joined by my boss Shane Neagle, who is the director of Ivy Law Group and the family lawyer extraordinaire. In this podcast, we will take a five in five approach, five questions in five minutes. Our aim is to keep the podcast light, easy to understand, and to give you some valuable information to take away with you.

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JH: Shane, hello.

SN: Hi Jessica.

JH: So, first podcast. How exciting! So, I guess for everybody out there listening, why don’t you tell me a little bit about yourself? Who is Shane Neagle?

SN: So I’m someone that grew up in Adelaide, South Australia and came up to Sydney in the late nineties. So I’ve been up here for 22 years now and I’m someone that came from an Aussie rules background and I’m now today just a dad who likes to do yoga, which is the best place to be. But my career has mostly spanned over nearly 30 years and has been largely involved early on with human rights type work. That included working at community legal centres and doing other work such as with discrimination and disability, which was wonderful. And then about probably 14 years ago, I started out on my own in business and then, we, about seven years ago, started the company Ivy Law Group.

JH: What is it about family law that particularly interests you?

SN: I think because it’s not just straight-laced law that you often find in other areas of law, like contracts. I think that with family law, you start to learn about psychology, sociology, the ups and downs of people’s emotions and trying to help them through difficult periods in their lives. And the law is really interesting. I think that we have a fair system in Australia in terms of property and how that’s divided and (with matters to do with) children.

JH: So what is your main motivation for doing this podcast?

SN: Look, one of my first reasons was to have fun with you and for us to learn and grow together and to do something a little bit different than what we do in our daily work. Also to hopefully provide a medium to get our information (across) to people who might be just listening to us by chance, making a cup of coffee and they hear the word narcissist and we explain that and how it comes up in the law or relationships and it’s a trigger for them, maybe in their own lives and/or maybe to help a friend. And it might be something we talk about as we go along and they go, “oh wow, that’s something I need to think about.”

JH: So for people who are going through a separation or divorce or they’re contemplating that, it can often feel quite overwhelming, particularly when it comes to the legal aspects. So for people listening, what would would you like them to get out of this podcast?

SN: I suppose for everyone doing a podcast there’s a reference point for them, but really, (the intent is) that there’s some key takeaways that they can pick up. For instance, the person listening might be at the stage where they’re 100% certain that the relationship is broken down. Now, there might have been something that they heard us say about the importance of having a plan in place (for example), when you do decide that it’s time to leave or to break up the relationship. And one key consideration, for example, is making sure that you have a lot of support around you. I know that’s an obvious one, but some people we actually see as clients, (they) haven’t even thought that through because they’re so consumed in the problems, so we try to set those up for people. So I’m hoping we can make a difference for that person who is having a cup of coffee and heard that (the podcast) and it’s later coming at them as a problem.

JH: Yep. Okay. So in terms of this podcast, we have set ourselves an ambitious goal of doing a family law podcast in five minutes. Now, I haven’t been checking time for this particular one, so I’m hoping that we have stuck to the five minutes. But, do you think we will actually be able to stick to five minutes talking about family law?

SN: Well, to be authentic, it’s going to take a lot of editing by you, there’s no doubt about that. But, as a disclaimer, not just (for) people listening, but also any colleague that might turn this on as a lawyer or someone legally trained, is that we cannot cover every simple nuance in law that might be relevant to the topic we’re talking about because it’s massive. So, if we’re able to stick to that rule that we are not being overly technical and just to have fun, that’s the priority for us. If we just base it on having fun and having a laugh and trying to get some key messages out there, that will be fantastic. And we’ll do five minutes, we’ll do four minutes, 59 seconds if that can help you.

JH: And so every podcast episode we’re going to end with a bit of a joke. Because for those of you who don’t know, Shane is a bit of a jokester. So Shane, give us your best dad joke.

SN: Oh, well I’m going to break the rule and tell two.

JH: Two! How are we going to stick to five minutes if you tell two jokes?

SN: Because they are going to be one liners. So, I busted a mirror and got seven years bad luck. But my lawyer thinks he can get me five. You said dad jokes!

Okay, I like this one.

JH: Wait, wait, wait. Drum roll.

SN: A man in an interrogation room says to the police, “I’m not saying a word without my lawyer present”. The policeman says, “you are the lawyer,” and the lawyer then returns fire and says, “exactly. So where’s my present?”

Thank you Jessica.

JH: Thanks Shane. See you next week everyone.

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JH: Thanks for tuning in. Don’t forget to save us to your favorites wherever you listen to your podcast so that you don’t miss an episode. It’s important to note that the contents of this podcast are intended as a general guide to the subject matter. And if you are looking for specific advice about your individual circumstances, then we would recommend getting in touch with one of our friendly family lawyers.