Collaborative Law

What is Collaborative Law?

Collaborative Law is a process used to resolve legal issues without going to court. It is especially effective in family law cases involving children and/or long-term marriages in which the spouses need to maintain an ongoing relationship after the case is over. Probate disputes, business issues, partnership negotiations and more also benefit from this process because it cultivates positive future communications and relations.

An alternative to litigation:

In traditional litigation, each party prepares their case to persuade the judge that only their view should ''win.'' The opportunity for mutual trust and respect is shattered by airing the other party's weaknesses, failures, misdeeds and mistakes in the public forum of a courtroom. No one is 100% innocent or 100% at fault in a contested situation, and lawyers are trained to make the most out of the worst things about the other party. That's part of a litigator's job. Therefore, litigation is approached as a Win-Lose proposition by the lawyers but frequently ends in a Lose-Lose result for the parties. To add further anxiety to the mix, the judge in a family law case has the burden of making decisions about children, real property and money for people they don't and can't really know. Collaborative law offers an alternative to the adversarial process of litigation.

Watch the video below to learn more about the advantages of collaborative law.

The collaborative law process:

Resolving a case through collaborative law involves a team comprising the parties, their respective lawyers, communication coach(es) and a financial neutral. This team structure varies a bit from state to state.

The team engages in a series of settlement meetings in which they agree to abide by strict rules of communication designed to encourage courtesy and respect. The parties and their attorneys are allowed to speak freely to each other while in the meetings. The communications coach is a mental health provider who helps control and monitor emotions and facilitate full expression of the parties' needs and interests. The financial neutral assists in gathering financial information and devising options for each party's financial future. If other experts are needed, the parties agree to hire one expert, rather than competing experts, for the intended purpose. The meetings remain confidential to insure open and efficient communication.

Watch the video below to learn about the importance of mutual goals during the collaborative law process.

Interest-based negotiations:

The process works, even with high conflict cases, because the professionals involved are trained in ''interest-based'' problem solving. Both parties' needs and interests are heard and considered over time in a safe environment where each party has their advocate by their side. This leads to a Win-Win mentality.

When people are in legal conflict, there usually are numerous problems, not the least of which is communication. The collaborative process is not necessarily easier – divorce or other conflict is always hard; however, collaborative negotiations can produce a better result for the parties.

A classic metaphor for the comparison between litigated and collaborative negotiations is the case of the orange: The Judge is presented with a case in which Party One and Party Two both want the same orange. The Judge does the right thing by law; he cuts the orange in half and gives one half to each party. But neither party can use just half of an orange, and the result is Lose-Lose. Had the Judge had the time to listen (and they generally do not), he might have realized that Party One wanted the orange peel to bake a cake, and Party Two wanted the juice to treat a cold. The orange could have been divided so that each party was 100% happy, thus achieving a Win-Win result.

Collaborative Law may be the right choice when parties in conflict would like to achieve reconstruction and/or continuation of a relationship, not further destruction.

Learn about setting an appropriate agenda during the collaborative law process in the following video.

Further information about collaborative law may be found at www.necollab.com and www.collaborativepractice.com.

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