Townsend ready to dish out divorce insight with a new show

By Tony Poland, LegalMatters Staff • Family lawyer Leanne Townsend is harnessing her legal expertise to fulfill a lifelong broadcasting dream with the launch of The Dish on Divorce.

Townsend, a partner with Brauti Thorning LLP, already produces Divorcing Well, a successful podcast that has been downloaded more than 10,000 times since launching last spring. Always eager to expand her professional horizons, she says teaming up with Toronto family mediator Jennifer Barkin for the new project is a natural progression. The official launch is March 8.

“I was always interested in being a broadcast journalist but ended up deciding to be a lawyer. The Dish on Divorcegives me the best of both worlds,” Townsend tells LegalMattersCanada.ca. “My dream would be to have a television show where I am the host or a cohost with this type of format we are launching.”

Townsend says divorce touches a large segment of the population. Her podcast covers many aspects of family law and includes interviews with “experts in law, finance, mediation, real estate, parenting and other areas.”

‘Many diverse issues’

“If you are not going through a divorce yourself you at least know someone who is or did. There are so many diverse issues,” Townsend says. “Lawyers are expensive, so people can get some information beforehand. I believe there is a real public interest in having more of this type of information readily available to people going through the process.”

She says she is taking her podcast one step further with The Dish on Divorce, offering a video format that will be initially available on YouTube and its own website. Like Divorcing Well, it will examine different aspects of family law but with more of a nod to combining information with entertainment.

“There’s going to be some serious subject matter because divorce is serious. We will have some experts to discuss those issues but we also want to have a lighter side to it as well,” Townsend says. “We might talk about celebrity divorces or something that’s in the news. It’s like coffee talk with your best friend who has expertise in family law. It will have the same type of feel as shows you see on television, such as The View or The Social but with a decidedly divorce slant.

“We want it to appeal to men and women,” she adds. “There will be fun elements to it so The Dish on Divorce seemed to be the perfect name for the program.”

Finding a name

Townsend says the catchy moniker was the result of some deliberation following Facebook and Instagram polls.

“We’re both blondes so we were looking at something along the lines of Legally Blonde, but we didn’t want to have any copyright issues,” she says. “Jennifer and I were both brainstorming an assortment of names and then picked our top few choices before asking for opinions. A client of mine who follows me on social media suggested The Dish on Divorce and we both liked it.”

Townsend says working with numerous lawyers on her podcast gave her many options for a cohost.

“I have known Jennifer for quite a while. We have a similar approach and philosophy to our clients and divorce,” she says. “We have a good rapport so we thought we would click well.

“We both have a funny side but we also have the expertise. The two of us can make it fun as well as serious.”

Barkin, the founder of Family Matters Mediators and Counsellors has training in an array of areas pertaining to divorce and separation. Her training includes child development, divorce finances, family mediation and arbitration, parenting coordination, parental alienation, and domestic violence screening. 

She hosts separation and divorce workshops and supports separated and divorced clients on multiple social network forums.

‘Creative ways of going things’

“When Leanne approached me about doing a show together I jumped at the opportunity. This allows me to be back in front of the camera to help people with the added bonus of spending time with Leanne, who is not only a close friend but has been my mentor,” says Barkin. “Opening a business in my fifties and in COVID can be daunting, to say the least, but Leanne has demonstrated to me time and again that there are creative ways of doing things and that it is never too late.

“It is my hope that the ease in which we speak will resonate with our audience,” she adds. “I feel fortunate to love what I do and with this show, work does not feel like work. What a blessing it is to be able to offer value and to love what we are doing.”

• A vaccine for the coronavirus will bring its own problems
• As the pandemic ebbs, Ontario courts slowly are reopening
• How to handle real estate disputes in divorces during a pandemic

Townsend says they are still finetuning the new program, which will be professionally produced at a Toronto studio. 

“We haven’t decided yet whether we’re going to turn it into an audio portion as well for a podcast,” she says. “We’ve put out some teasers, just trying to create a little buzz.”

Sharing information

Townsend works tirelessly to share family law information when she is not representing clients. She blogs regularly and has appeared in print, television and radio media outlets as well as podcasts.

“I enjoy it. It is not work to me,” Townsend says. “Some of my legal practice can be so heavy, so negative and draining. I find I need other types of projects to offset that. It adds a nice balance to my life. The idea is to help people, be of value and, potentially, attract new clients.”

She says when she started her Divorcing Well podcast, she didn’t know what to expect and has been thrilled by the response.

“I’m not surprised the format is popular because I believe there’s a need for this kind of informational programming,” says Townsend. “But I’m surprised by how it was embraced since there are so many podcasts out there. I didn’t know how it was going to fare.

“I have prospective clients tell me they listen to it,” she adds. “What excites me even more is when I have lawyers tell me they listen to it and they respect it.”

Two platforms to produce

Despite now having two platforms to produce she doesn’t anticipate having trouble finding guests or content to fill both.

“I have been overloaded with people who want to be interviewed for the podcast,” she says.

“One challenge will be to make sure The Dish on Divorce is not overlapping with my podcast. I don’t want to be recycling guests or topics.”

Townsend says she is excited to launch the new program and to see where it will take her.

“I’m passionate about it. Ideally, it would great to turn it into something bigger like a spot on a newscast or a TV show,” she says. “I have seen other legal advice shows and I believe there is a place for something like The Dish on Divorce.”