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Collaborative Family Law

By Alan Freed

People in crisis want relief. And yet, when married couples go through the crisis of divorce, more often than not they turn to a course of action that magnifies the problems, usually at a substantial cost, and often with a very unsatisfactory result.

Why? Because most people are unaware of any alternative to the time-consuming, expensive, and often exasperating process of litigation. And even when well-intentioned lawyers are guiding the couple through the procedural thickets, the frustration is substantial, and the unhappiness often unavoidable.

One lawyer in Minneapolis, Stu Webb, was sufficiently in tune with his clients' frustrations, not to mention dissatisfied with the life of a divorce litigator, that he decided to try something radically different. He decided that if he offered his services as a cooperative problem solver and guide rather than as a warrior, he might find a willing clientele.

He was right, and out of those early efforts, collaborative family law was born.

Collaborative law is a process that allows divorcing parties to focus all of their efforts and resources on settlement of their divorces, rather than on preparing for trial. Given that the great majority of divorce cases end by settlement rather than through trial, many couples, as well as lawyers, would far prefer to proceed in a cooperative fashion, sharing relevant information, and negotiating in a collaborative spirit.

To obtain a divorce through collaborative law, both parties retain lawyers who have been trained in the collaborative law process. Next, the lawyers and the divorcing couple enter into a participation agreement, which sets out the framework for a collaborative family law case. The agreement includes such provisions as: voluntary disclosure of financial information, a commitment to "above-board" dealings with the other party and attorney, and, most important, a pledge to concentrate all efforts towards settlement of the case. This last commitment is reinforced by a revolutionary promise: if the process fails to yield a settlement, both lawyers will withdraw from representation of the parties, and will not participate in any litigation. Since the collaborative process takes place before either party files a case in court, if the parties later determine they wish to litigate, they can retain attorneys for that purpose after the collaborative effort ends.

The importance of the withdrawal requirement cannot be overstated. It means that the participants can enter into a collaborative law case knowing that their lawyers are fully committed to working towards settlement, and that they will not be distracted from that approach by concerns associated with the litigation process or by any perceived need to posture for strategic advantage.

Armed with that assurance, the parties and their lawyers typically meet in four-way settlement sessions to share information and to fashion settlement agreements and plans for the care and support of their children. Since the parties are directly involved, they can help establish the agenda, and they can have a much greater hand in the final product, helping tailor a settlement that truly fits the needs of that particular family. If assistance is needed from experts such as accountants and appraisers, the parties can jointly select these professionals, and they can participate in joint meetings with the parties. The participation agreement also provides that experts who are used in the collaborative process cannot be used at trial unless both parties agree.

Collaborative law will not be appropriate for all cases. Some cases are so simple that couples can work out the terms without significant assistance from experts. Others lend themselves to mediation with a neutral third party. And there will always be those cases that require a court to hear evidence and make a determination.

But since most cases are resolved without a trial, and since most people going through divorce would prefer to have their cases settled as efficiently and economically as possible, collaborative family law opens new opportunities for reasonable and dignified divorce settlements.

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"Paule, Camazine & Blumenthal is pleased to be among the first firms in the St. Louis area to offer Collaborative Family Law to its clients. As a charter member of the Collaborative Family Law Association, St. Louis's only group of collaborative law attorneys, Alan Freed is uniquely situated to provide expert counsel in the use of this innovative process."


For more information on Collaborative Family Law, please visit the Collaborative Family Law Association web site at: http://www.collaborativefamilylaw-mo.org

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