Collaborative Family Law Sets Aside The Usual Adversarial Approach And Tries To Work Amicably To Achieve A Fair And Reasonable Settlement In Divorce

What Is Collaborative Law?

 

Collaboration is essentially the same as Cooperation. Is the Collaborative Family Law Process Right for You?

Couples traditionally retained lawyers who are trained to use an adversarial approach to win at any cost. They went to war on behalf of their client and the casualties are the children, as well as the divorcing parents. This is hugely expensive and emotionally devastating. In the end. the only winners are the lawyers who are getting very rich off people who insist on battling in court.

Some lawyers offer a collaborative process where they pledge to work as a group. The two lawyers and the divorcing couple all work together to negotiate a reasonable, fair and equitable solution without the warfare, the games and the extremely high costs of court trials.

The process uses informal discussions and conferences to settle all issues.

Confrontation is set aside and the process works through cooperation and negotiation. The divorcing couple provide the facts, the financial information and suggest solutions they can live with. The lawyers work with what the couple gives them.

Both spouses and both collaborative lawyers sign a contract agreeing not to go to court.

Both lawyers will help the divorcing/separating couple to reach a settlement which is acceptable to both parties. They may not get everything they want, but collaborative law will probably will get the best settlement for both parties.

This is preferable to letting a stranger, such as a judge, who knows nothing about you, determine how your children will be raised, your assets divided and in a real sense how you will live the rest of your life. That judge has nothing but some documents before him to make decisions affecting the rest of your life.

The Advantages Of Collaborative Law

 

• Dollar Cost: A full blown divorce trial can easily cost $50,000. Collaborative Law costs will be a tiny fraction of that amount
• Emotional Cost: You will carry fewer emotional scars if you collaborate with your spouse instead of going to war in the usual divorce nightmare.
• The process takes much less time than a protracted court battle.
• Both parties will have skilled legal advisors who understand how to reach a reasonable and appropriate settlement.
• You are not alone. Your collaborative lawyer will work with you throughout explaining, coaching and guiding you to the optimum settlement through mutual participation and agreement.
• All parties agree in advance to work only toward a settlement acceptable to both clients.
• Litigation is not permitted and all parties contract up front not to go court.
• You and your spouse will not be permitted to play games or take advantage of each other.
• All parties have a huge financial incentive to make the Collaborative Family Law Process work. The collaborative lawyers are "out of a job" if the process breaks down.
• Clients and collaborative lawyers work together seeking a settlement rather than working against each other as "opposing parties"
• Collaborative lawyers usually have training in ADR, Mediation, Negotiation and the Collaborative Family Law Process.