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ABOUT
The purpose of Collaborative Law is to help clients in family law matters
achieve agreement in a dignified and respectful manner.
A relationship ends. Emotions run high.
Decisions made can last a lifetime. Parties jockeying for position
put children and assets at risk. The prospect of court increases
animosity and anxiety, and the cost can be devastating. Having independent
professional legal and emotional support immediately following a
relationship breakdown is critical.
Frustrated with the destructive impact of family litigation, lawyers
and other professionals have sought alternatives. Among those,  Collaborative
Family Law has gained recognition across NorthAmerica as a preferred,
common sense,team approach to resolving issues arising from family
breakdowns.Collaborative law removes court as an option and focuses
energy and resources on creating positive, fair, and long lasting
settlements. Utilizing skills of specially trained lawyers, Collaboration
allows people to engage in meaningful constructive problem solving
about their future and the long-term impact of separation on their
lives and on the lives of their children.
What is Collaborative Family Law?
Collaborative law is a way of practicing law whereby the lawyers
for both parties in a family dispute agree to assist them in resolving
conflict using cooperative strategies rather than adversarial techniques
and litigation. Early non-adversarial participation by the lawyers
allows them to use attributes of best practices not greatly utilized
in the usual adversarial proceedings; namely, use of analysis and
reasoning to solve problems, generate options, and create a positive
context for settlement.
What happens if a settlement cannot be reached?
In the event that the parties are unable to arrive at a settlement
through the collaborative law approach, the collaborative lawyers
withdraw from the case and the parties are free to retain trial lawyers
to pursue their matter in court. The result is that the parties will
have had the best representation for each phase of their proceeding. |
 How Do Collaborative Lawyers Work?
While no two cases or collaborative lawyers are alike, the emphasis
in the approach is to find a way in which the lawyers can work with
the parties that will achieve a satisfactory settlement in an efficient,
cooperative manner. This includes "four-way" settlement
conferences where the parties meet with their collaborative lawyers
to work on a settlement. Basically, your collaborative lawyers are
committed to finding ways to achieve settlement that will work best
in your case. Their philosophy is that as much effort should be exerted
toward settlement as is traditionally spent in preparation for and
conducting a trial.
Collaboration or Mediation?
Collaboration and mediation both seek to create a safe, confidential
process within which to resolve disputes. Like collaborative lawyers,
mediators have special training to facilitate communication in the
context of a conflict. A mediator is considered a completely “neutral” party
and cannot advocate for either party on legal matters. With Collaborative
Family Law, both parties are represented by their own lawyers who
participate fully and advise their clients of their legal rights
and obligations throughout the process. Mediation also still holds
the threat of Court. In collaboration, all parties agree they will
not go to Court.
Collaboration also requires mandatory financial disclosure and can
involve specially trained professionalshired by the parties, jointly
to deal with the specific issues  affecting the children and/or financial
tax matters.
Next steps
Take some time to consider if Collaborative
Family Law might be the right approach for you. |
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