How does Collaborative Law work?

Not every case needs to end up in the courtroom. In fact, each year more than 98.6% of filed cases never see the inside of a courtroom.
Prepare yourself for an appropriate resolution without the time, expense, and anxiety of a lengthy litigation process by hiring a collaborative attorney to work with the other party (and their respective collaborative attorney) to reach a settlement that is fair and fast.

-Each party retains their own family and marital law attorney who is collaboratively trained to advocate for and counsel each of the parties throughout the collaborative process.

-The attorneys, along with the clients, can agree to work with specialized professionals from the fields of finance, mental health or more with the goal of creating options for settlement in the case. Each of the retained neutral professionals meets with the parties individually to discuss their goals and objectives.

-Once the facts and circumstances of the case as well as the goals and objectives of the respective parties are assessed by all professional team members, the first full team meeting is scheduled. This could occur within a few weeks of executing the professional engagement. With each meeting, agreements are reached which are in the parties’ final Agreement.

-After the collaborative marital settlement agreement is signed, the attorneys will draft the papers so that the parties can sign and obtain a judgement from the courts which is legally binding.

The Benefits of using a Collaborative Lawyer

Privacy: Unlike traditional litigation, all the details of your life- your finances, family circumstances and personal information will not be in the public record for all to see.

Control: With the counsel of an experienced team of professionals, all parties involved get to make all the decisions about the timing and outcome of your case.

Cost & Efficiency: Since this is an out of court process, costs and timing are controlled by the team that includes spouses and professionals, often times making the overall cost less expensive and much quicker.

In Divorce cases particularly, one of the most difficult parts of divorce is figuring out how to co-parent effectively as well as making decisions about sharing time with their children. The neutral facilitator, trained in working with families and children, guides the parents towards creating agreements that are in the best interests of the children, and thus, the family as a whole.