Collaborative Family Law

What is the Collaborative Process?

The Collaborative Process is a non-adversarial option for individuals to resolve family law matters with the help of a team of professionals, which includes each participant’s attorney, a mental health facilitator, and a financial professional. The focus of the Collaborative Process is to encourage and foster a positive environment for families to resolve their cases. The adversarial nature of litigation too often pits parents against one another, and children suffer as a result. This option helps protect the family unit during a difficult time, while also providing the tools to help guide them in the future.

Traditional litigation involves the preparation of long-winded court documents and time-consuming and/or unnecessary court appearances that do not always result in progress being made. The Collaborative Process eliminates participants’ exposure to the frustrating and costly nature of litigation. Instead, this process allows participants to spend their retainer effectively on meetings that result in real progress and resolution while avoiding the accumulation of unnecessary attorney’s fees and costs.

Rather than submitting to the time-consuming aspects of traditional litigation, families engage in agenda-driven team meetings that create an effective environment conducive to resolving cases effectively and more efficiently than drawn-out traditional litigation. However, if participants desire to pause or slow down the process, for any reason, this is an option in the collaborative process but not always in traditional litigation.

This process allows families the opportunity to choose a more holistic approach to resolving difficult family matters. It offers families more control over every aspect of their case thereby reducing stress while fostering peace of mind, transparent communication, and a non-adversarial setting. This environment benefits all family members and helps families separate without being torn apart.