"Let's Talk About Law" - The interactive discussion series

Host Marie-Elisabeth Miersch discusses the topic „Who, How, and What Is Family? Living Together Between the Law and Reality“ with an attorney specializing in family and estate law Laura Kleiner, researcher Dr. Susanna Roßbach and family law attorney Caroline Greb. The event is being held in cooperation with the German Association of Women Lawyers (djb) takes place.

When it comes to child support, custody, issues of parentage, or even gender identity, disputes can arise quickly—family law affects almost everyone and runs deep into societal conflicts. This often leads to discussions about what seems clear at first glance: Who, how, and what actually constitutes a family—and who decides that?

Whether paternity should be easier to contest, how care work can be fairly taken into account in cases of separation and divorce, or whether domestic violence must also restrict access to children—these issues are currently the subject of intense debate in family law. These debates highlight just how much the law and societal notions of family are changing—and how urgently reforms are needed to eliminate discrimination and strengthen justice. This is the view shared by the panelists on „Let’s Talk About Law“ on October 8, 2025—family law attorneys Laura Kleiner and Caroline Greb, as well as scholar Dr. Susanna Roßbach. The Forum Recht Foundation will speak with the family law experts from the German Women Lawyers’ Association about where the law protects families, where it fails them, and what reforms are truly necessary. The central question is: How can family law help make coexistence more equitable—between parents and children, between generations, and between the sexes?

The audience is warmly invited to join the discussion and ask their own questions. (The content of this event is intended for adults—however, children are welcome and may be brought along.)

More About the Guests

Laura Kleiner has been working as an attorney specializing in family and inheritance law at the Raue law firm in Berlin since 2021. Since 2023, she has been a member of the djb’s Commission on Family, Inheritance, and Civil Law, with a focus on maintenance law. Laura Kleiner studied German-French law in Berlin and Paris and subsequently earned an LL.M. in international law from Utrecht University, specializing in international human rights protection. She completed her legal clerkship at the Berlin Court of Appeal, with placements including the Department of Fundamental Rights and Constitutional Disputes at the Federal Ministry of the Interior and the Department of Human Rights and Peace at Brot für die Welt. (Source: djb website)

Photo: Raue PartmbB Law Firm

Dr. Susanna Roßbach is a research fellow and postdoctoral candidate at the Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Private Law in Hamburg. Her research there focuses on family and personal status law, private international law, and legal gender studies. Her dissertation, completed in 2024, deals with the recording of gender in birth records. She has been a member of the djb since 2018 and has been active since 2021 on the Commission on Family, Succession, and Civil Law as well as on the Training and Career Working Group, which she took over as chair in 2023. She also volunteers at Arbeiterkind.de to promote educational equity. (Source: djb website)

Caroline Greb is an attorney at „Kind & Recht – The Law Firm for Visitation and Custody Rights.“ She studied law and European law at Julius Maximilian University in Würzburg and at the University of Groningen (Netherlands). She specialized in international family and inheritance law. During her studies, she volunteered primarily in the field of child protection. She then completed her legal clerkship at the Higher Regional Court of Schleswig-Holstein, including placements at the Youth Welfare Office of the Hanseatic City of Lübeck, the law firm Kind & Recht in Hamburg, and the ARD legal editorial department in Karlsruhe. Since 2023, she has been working as a family law attorney at the law firm Kind & Recht in Hamburg and is a member of the Family Law Commission of the German Women Lawyers’ Association. Her practice focuses on the areas of parent-child relationships and protection against violence. She has also been a certified procedural representative since 2025.

About the Event Series

This year, the Forum Recht Foundation is hosting a regular series of discussions titled „Let’s Talk About Recht.“ Each session features guests from various fields of law who discuss their day-to-day work and share their perspectives on a current legal topic—ranging from labor law and tenancy law to freedom of speech.

Service

Admission is free of charge. Registration is not required.

Please note our Accessibility information for the event venues. 

Doors open 20 minutes before the show starts.

Listen to the conversation now on the Live-On-Tape podcast.

Share your experiences and questions! Join the discussion now on current legal topics from the series at the Participation platform of the Forum Recht Foundation.