On this episode of The Injury Pros Podcast, host Todd Sailer sits down with family-law veteran Dimitri Smirnov for a candid, human-first conversation about what really happens when life flips overnight—whether from a car crash or a custody fight. Dimitri explains why the most difficult cases aren’t always about money or property, but about kids, safety, and the slow erosion of trust between people who once chose each other. He walks us through the reality behind custody disputes—how parental alienation shows up, what judges actually listen for, and the rare, narrow circumstances where withholding a child is justified. Todd draws parallels to personal injury practice: the need to be present for clients in crisis, to create calm plans when the court’s pace lags behind real life, and to remember that the work outside the courtroom - answering midnight calls about PFAs or a mistaken school pickup - is often the work that matters most.

The conversation widens into an honest post-mortem on modern relationships. Dimitri argues that communication breakdown, more than infidelity, is the root cause of most divorces; cheating and drinking are often symptoms of feeling unseen or unheard. They talk about work-life balance, the cost of being “always on,” and why good lawyering requires listening harder than you speak. There’s humor, too: pet “custody” schedules, a parrot that mimics kids’ screams just to torment its least-favorite human, and the shared pride of watching a little-league slugger grow up. It’s an episode about law, yes—but more so about empathy, boundaries, and helping families navigate their hardest days with a steady hand.