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What is it?
In Collaborative Practice each party has a lawyer - trained in Collaborative Practice. The lawyers facilitate agreement on all issues in meetings that include all four parties (and sometimes other professionals) at the table. As an important part of this process, lawyers agree
ahead of time not to go to court or to threaten to go to court. All decisions are ultimately made by you and your partner and lawyers prepare and process all the papers.
Is it right for you?
If you and your partner wish to use a lawyer for advice, counsel
and encouragement, the answer is "yes" this process is right for you. If the issues between you and your spouse are complex, Collaborative Practice may also be a good choice because the process calls on the expertise of professionals who can help facilitate positive progress. These professionals include financial professionals, mental health professionals who serve as coaches and child specialists, all trained in the Collaborative Practice model.
Collaborative Practice is beneficial if you and your partner have children and want to protect them from the rancor associated with more traditional adversarial paths.
This process also enables you to keep your personal affairs out of court and control important decisions that affect your family life for the future. In this model, you can restructure your family without putting these matters in the hands of the court. Perhaps the ultimate benefit of this process is that you and your spouse will set an intention to resolve your disputes with integrity and grace, allowing you to problem solve in a creative and healing manner.
It's important to note that if only one party agrees to select a lawyer trained in the process, then
Collaborative Practice may not work for you.
If you and your partner want to use a neutral third party - a mediator -- rather than retaining two separate attorneys, then Mediation may be a better choice for you. Like Collaborative Practice, this process engages you and your partner in creative decision making that contributes to shared resolution. This shared decision making can enable you to restructure your family with an eye toward healing and productive partnership for the continued rearing of your children. This process also enables you to maintain integrity as you achieve your own goals and find a way to achieve the goals of your partner. Like Collaborative Practice, the Mediation process enables you to keep your personal affairs out of court and control important decisions that affect your family life in the future. Perhaps the ultimate benefit of this process is that you and your spouse will set an intention to resolve your disputes with integrity and grace, allowing you to problem solve in a creative and healing manner.
Like Collaborative Practice, Mediation can engage ancillary professionals in the financial and mental health arenas, as necessary, to prevent the process from stalling.
Selecting a collaborative lawyer: Each of you may select a lawyer from a list of those trained in Collaborative Practice. Collaborative Practice Silicon Valley (CPSV) has a list of these trained lawyers. http://www.collaborativepracticesiliconvalley.com/
Both of you sign an Agreement to Collaborate and Guidelines for the practice. A final agreement goes to court for legal approval.
Other team professionals:
The collaborative team includes two lawyers, mental
health professionals who serve as coaches, a financial professional, and a child
specialist. All other experts are used as neutral parties, with costs shared by the
couple. These experts can also include business evaluators, appraisers or certified public accountants.
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