Law and Porter

Elizabeth Porter
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Life doesn't come with a legal brief, but it does come with hard chapters — divorce, abuse, addiction, adoption, depression, and everything in between. Attorney Elizabeth Porter sits down with friends and former clients to talk openly about the moments that nearly broke them and what got them through. No scripts, no filters — just honest conversation, practical tools, and the kind of hard-won wisdom you only get from people who've actually been there. Think of it as the talk you needed to have with someone who's already walked the road you're standing on. Hosted by Elizabeth Porter — Mississippi attorney, advocate, and firm believer that surviving something is only half the story.

  1. 1d ago

    The People Who Didn't Have To: Foster Care, Grief, and Faith

    Kenya was raised in motel rooms in Vicksburg, Mississippi, by a mother caught up in addiction and drug trafficking. She did not know that kids were supposed to go to school. When the state finally intervened, she was twelve years old and could not read or write. In this powerful and honest conversation about foster care, adoption, and grief, Kenya shares how a children's home, a handful of teachers, and a few families who did not have to step in changed the direction of her life. She talks about what it was like to learn that stability is not the same as safety, why being adopted did not mean she and her brother were treated like family, and how she tried to shield her younger brother Raymond from everything she could. Kenya also talks openly about losing Raymond to suicide, the anger she still carries, how she found her way back to therapy and faith, and why she started her own podcast to talk about the systems that fail kids and the people who sign up to help and then walk away. Content note: this episode discusses addiction, child abuse, and suicide. If you or someone you know is struggling, you can call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline in the United States. If this conversation moved you, please like the video, share it with someone who needs to hear it, and subscribe so you never miss a new episode. You can learn more about Kenya's story from her podcast, The Controversial Couch.

  2. Nov 3

    The Happiest I've Ever Been: Life After Leaving an Abusive Marriage

    Holly says she is the happiest she has ever been, and this conversation follows how she got there. She begins in a childhood where the only place she felt safe was beside her older sister, through a few steady years with a stepfather, and then a mother who left her with unsafe adults and later sent her to live with an abusive father. Early on, Holly decided she would learn from every adult around her what not to do. Then she tells the harder story. A marriage that began with faith and a sense of protection slowly became frightening. Holly describes how blame and ridicule wore her down until she no longer knew who she was, and why leaving felt so costly inside the church. She talks about the night she knew she had to go, the small circle of friends who helped her, and the first strange weeks of freedom. She closes with grace for the people who failed her and a simple hope that listeners will tell one person. Resources for anyone facing abuse are in the show notes.

  3. Oct 27

    The Table With 12 Chairs: Denise Destin on Losing Nearly Everyone and Starting Over

    Denise Destin grew up on a small farm in rural Mississippi, where hard work was the answer to everything and feelings were something you buried. It was a strength that served her well, until the losses came. Over roughly a decade she lost her father, her brothers, her sister, and her aunt. Then, a year into breast cancer treatment, she lost her mother, her ride or die. The family table with twelve chairs had become impossible to fill.   In this conversation, Denise describes what came next: the weight, the severe anxiety, the years of anger, and the small, stubborn things that pulled her back, from friends who texted a scripture to a young trainer who wouldn't give up on her. She talks about balancing on one foot for fifteen seconds, a moment behind the gym when her trainer handed her a towel and sat with her while she cried, and a flash of clarity on a massage table that led her to leave insurance sales and open Reclaim Wellness in Hattiesburg. It is a story about surrender, faith, and the people who help us carry what we can't carry alone. To learn more about Denise visit https://reclaimwellnessms.com/.  Learn more about our episode sponsor at porterlaw.ms

  4. Oct 20

    If We Caused It, We Can Heal It: Kids, Screens, and Play

    Play therapist Ashlie West went into children's mental health because, in her words, kids are easier than adults. A graduate school mentor asked her one question that changed that: what happens after the session, when the child goes back to the same world? In this conversation, Ashlie and Elizabeth talk about what that question taught her. They get into what constant screens are doing to children's attention and mood, why behavior change often gets worse before it gets better, and why a dysregulated parent cannot parent a dysregulated child into calm. Ashlie explains how play works as a child's first language, what a single sand tray can reveal that a child cannot say out loud, and why she brings parents into the work from the second appointment. Along the way, both women admit how hard it is to put the phone down, to play without an agenda, and to apologize to a kid. The takeaway is steady and hopeful: if parents can accidentally teach a child something unhelpful, they can intentionally teach something better.

  5. Oct 13

    The Miscarriage She Kept in a Box: Why We Grieve Alone

    Lee Anne is a fundraising consultant, a stand-up comic, and a woman who spent years believing she had to handle her hardest moment alone. In this conversation, she shares publicly for the first time the story of a miscarriage at six weeks, just after moving to North Carolina in 2014. She describes telling her husband to stay at work, driving home alone through a KFC drive-through, and going back to the office on Thursday as if nothing had happened. She did not tell her mother until after her son was born. Looking back, she names what she was protecting: the belief that she was good at everything, and that this was a personal failure. The conversation moves from grief to anger, including a very sincere apology to Carrie Underwood, and then to the difference between being private and being secretive. Lee Anne makes the case that the people who love us have earned the right to worry about us, and that shame cannot survive in community. If you are carrying something no one knows about, this episode is an invitation to let someone walk with you.

  6. Oct 6

    Both Are True: What a Foster Mom Learned About Loving Kids She Might Lose

    What does it actually feel like to love a foster child you may have to give back? In this episode, Loren shares her journey from a late-night application as a single woman to adopting her son, welcoming three siblings on a couple hours' notice, and learning to love both the children and the parents who needed her. Host Elizabeth Porter and Loren talk openly about attachment, grief, and the idea that someone always loses in foster care. Loren explains why she was completely attached to her first placement, how she supported a grieving three-year-old through nights on the floor, and what it meant to be a real person cheering on the biological parents rather than a threat to them. She also looks back on what she would do differently, especially in preparing her adopted son for reunifications, and why she still believes the hardest parts of fostering are worth it. If you are a foster parent, thinking about becoming one, or supporting someone who is, this conversation offers a rare and honest look at what it means to live in tension. If this episode meant something to you, subscribe so you never miss a conversation, and share it with someone who needs to hear it. For more adoption and foster care resources, reach out to NOOL Counseling.  Learn more about our show sponsor, Porter Law Group, here.

  7. Sep 29

    The Road Still Bears His Name: Dawn's story of Overcoming Family Abuse

    Dawn was eight years old when a friend pulled her aside and told her that what was happening in her own home wasn't normal. It would be years before her family said the words out loud, and even after her abuser's arrest, the family's response was to stay quiet and move on.   In this conversation, the trauma nurse and author of Nursing the Wounds talks about growing up in the same small Mississippi town as her abuser — a man who was also, ironically, her first introduction to church — and about separating the God she was taught from the man who taught her. She talks about founding Voice for the Silenced with a friend she didn't know shared her story, the ACEs research that shapes how she understands trauma as a nurse, and the forgiveness she found in an old Bible that changed how she carries her own history. She also opens up, for the first time publicly, about a road near where she grew up that still bears her abuser's name — and her fight to see it changed. Click here to purchase Dawn's book.  Connect with Dawn on Facebook.

  8. Sep 22

    You Are Worth It: Payton's Story of Surviving Domestic Violence

    Payton was twenty years old, a college student in Hattiesburg, when a relationship that started casually turned dangerous. He was charismatic and magnetic, the center of every room, and slowly, systematically, he isolated her from her friends and family and convinced her she was nothing without him, long before he ever raised a hand. In this episode, Payton tells the full story: the red flags she talked herself out of seeing, the night the abuse turned physical, the split-second decision that got her to a hospital, and the prosecution that followed. She's candid about going back more than once, about the friends who finally pulled her out for good, and about what it took to rebuild trust in herself and in love. Today Payton is a chiropractor, a wife, and a mother, and she's sharing her story so someone else might recognize the pattern sooner than she did. If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence: National Domestic Violence Hotline, 1-800-799-7233, text START to 88788, thehotline.org. Mississippi Coalition Against Domestic Violence statewide hotline, 1-800-898-3234, mcadv.org. Domestic Abuse Family Shelter, serving the Pine Belt and Hattiesburg area, 24-hour crisis line, 1-800-649-1092, dafs.ms.

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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
6 Ratings

About

Life doesn't come with a legal brief, but it does come with hard chapters — divorce, abuse, addiction, adoption, depression, and everything in between. Attorney Elizabeth Porter sits down with friends and former clients to talk openly about the moments that nearly broke them and what got them through. No scripts, no filters — just honest conversation, practical tools, and the kind of hard-won wisdom you only get from people who've actually been there. Think of it as the talk you needed to have with someone who's already walked the road you're standing on. Hosted by Elizabeth Porter — Mississippi attorney, advocate, and firm believer that surviving something is only half the story.

Information

  • Creator
    Elizabeth Porter
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    27
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026
  • Show Website
    Law and Porter

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