Collaboration
Collaborative Law uses an interdisciplinary team of professionals who work together with the parties to help find solutions that work for everyone. Collaboration provides people in conflict with individual support and expert guidance. And it promotes cooperation and civility along the way.
In Collaborative Law, each party has the support and advice of their own attorney who is duty-bound to represent their interests. But rather than work at cross purposes to one another in an adversarial manner, collaborative attorneys work cooperatively. Together, the attorneys and the parties focus on creative problem solving and meeting everyone’s needs. Collaborative attorneys agree in advance to remove litigation as an option and do not use the threat of litigation as a negotiating tool. To ensure total commitment to the collaboration, both collaborative attorneys agree to be disqualified from representing the parties in any future litigation.
To better serve the parties, Collaborative Law also leverages the expertise of other professionals. In addition to the attorneys, neutral subject matter experts in areas such as finance, family dynamics, parenting and business valuation (based on the unique needs of each couple), may be added to the collaborative team. The result is efficient and valuable expertise and neutral support for both parties.
Like mediation, collaboration empowers the parties to decide for themselves the terms of any agreement they reach. It does not guarantee mutual agreement. But it offers a highly supportive process that promotes efficiency, respect and cooperation.
