Collaborative Family Law
Collaborative Law is simply the settling of a case with legal counsel but without Court intervention. The goal is to assist my clients in resolving all issues pertaining to their separation without going to court.
Collaborative Family Law focuses on the specific needs of each family. In my experience, this process results in tangible benefits for the parties and most importantly their children by leaving decision making with the parties and not the court.
The Collaborative Process creates a co-operative environment as opposed to an adversarial environment. I assist my clients to develop new forms of communication which will allow them to negotiate in a constructive fashion to achieve the specific goals of the negotiation. If you are a parent, my first focus is on parenting issues. As a collaborative professional, I can provide a setting where you can work with your spouse to create the best positive life for your children and yourselves.
The Collaborative process allows clients to schedule meetings with the lawyers in a timely fashion as opposed to waiting for the lengthy period of time generally associated with Court dates. It has been my experience that within the Collaborative process, couples resolve their separation and divorce in a less costly and more timely fashion than the traditional litigation process.
To Begin The Process of Collaborative Law
- Contact my office to book an “initial consultation”
- If the other party has already retained a lawyer who is trained in Collaborative Law, a 1st joint meeting can then be scheduled with the parties and their respective lawyers to review the issues in dispute and sign the contract to bind the parties to the negotiation process. If the other party has not retained a lawyer, I would send them a letter suggesting the collaborative process as an option to resolving the issues and possibly provide a list of other trained lawyers in the area. Once I have been contacted by the other parties collaborative lawyer, the 1st joint meeting can be scheduled.
- Once an agreement has been reached on the issues, one of the lawyers will draft a Separation Agreement. The parties will then review and sign the Agreement.
