Collaborative Law

Collaborative law is similar to mediation in that it leaves the decision making up to the individual parties, not the court. However, unlike mediation, during the collaborative law process, all parties are together in one room for open and "transparent" discussion. The collaborative team often consists of the spouses, their attorneys, and mutually agreed-upon neutral representatives from the financial and real estate sectors who help the parties with, respectively, an agreeable division of assets/debts and real property. Many times a therapist will also be invited to join the team, to help couples deal with the emotions experienced during most divorces, and also to allow the attorneys more focus on legal issues.

Other conditions that reflect the civility of the collaborative law process are 1) the parties must sign an agreement not to take their case to court for a designated period of time; and 2) the collaborative law attorney is not allowed to represent his/her client in divorce court. This safeguard eliminates any self-serving interests, and reaching an agreeable settlement is the primary focus.