| WHAT IS COLLABORATIVE LAW? |
|
In 1984, Chief Justice Warren Burger of the United States Supreme Court understood what has become self-evident to many – the courts are not the best place to resolve disputes:
|
|
“The entire legal profession. . . has become so mesmerized with the stimulation of the courtroom contest, that we tend to forget that we ought to be healers of conflict. . .trial by adversarial contest must in time go the way of the ancient trial by battle and blood. . .our system has become too costly, too painful, too destructive, too inefficient for truly civilized people” (emphasis added).
|
Six years later, one disgruntled attorney, Stu Webb, was so disenchanted with how his clients were impacted by the adversarial court system, he contemplated a new career. Then it dawned on him, “If I’m actually willing to quit being a lawyer, why don’t I at least see whether there’s some out-of-the-box way I can look at things. Maybe there’s a better way of handling divorce.” His inspiration has spawned the practice of Collaborative Law in every State but four and from England to Australia.
|
Divorce is not simply an event or simply the ending of a marriage. Divorce is a life changing transition which is complex, unfamiliar and frequently scary. In traditional divorce, attorneys and courts have the goal of getting to a marital settlement. At their peril, they are not focused with how the settlement is achieved or how the adversarial process impacts families and children.
|
In Collaborative Divorce, the focus is on the whole family and the transition from from one household to two. The focus is on the well being of each family member. In Collaborative, spouses make their own decisions about their divorce rather than putting attorneys, judges and the Court in charge. The parents engage the support of a team of highly and specially trained legal, psychological and financial professionals. The team approach transforms the trauma of divorce into an opportunity for personal growth, closure and healing.
|
In Collaborative, the team supports you in evaluating your options, evaluating your goals and exploring ways of reaching agreements that create (a) win/win situations rather than the lose/lose situations that result(s) from most litigated (court) divorces.
|
In Collaborative, the goal is not simply to get divorced and dissolve the marriage.
|
| The goal of the Collaborative Family Law process is to resolve all issues relating to separation and divorce in a non-adversarial manner, without going to court. The process reduces conflict and maintains trust which increases the likelihood that parents can cooperate in the parenting of their children and reach solutions which promote their children's best interests. The costs of child and financial specialists can be shared. There are no court papers to be prepared and no court hearings, resulting in a process that is generally less costly and time consuming than litigation, and provides added value and hope for a positive future for the family. |
|
