Collaborative Law
What is it? Collaborative law (aka collaborative practice, collaborative process) is similar to mediation in that it is a series of structured conversations designed to assist the parties in making decisions together. But instead of there being a mediator in the room, each party has an lawyer present who maintains a "mediative consciousness." While your lawyer's role is still to represent and advocate for you, collaborative lawyers avoid the adversarial stances common in litigation and instead work to guide the conversations toward results that are acceptable and beneficial to everyone involved. Like mediation, the process is confidential, and proceeds only with mutual agreement. While the collaborative process is usually used for divorce or separation, it can be effective for any type of civil dispute.
Why collaborative? The collaborative process is an excellent alternative to mediation if you have difficulty expressing yourself in the presence of the other party, if there is a power imbalance, or if you simply feel more comfortable having an advocate with you in the room.
A key feature of the collaborative process is that, before beginning, you and your partner sign an agreement stating that you do not intend to go to court, and you agree to hire new attorneys if the process breaks down and does end up in litigation. That provides tremendous incentive to stay at the table, even when the conversation gets hard. In addition, knowing that the process is confidential allows each side to be more honest, to admit wrongdoing, or even offer apologies, as appropriate.
Joy is specially trained in collaborative law, and in interdisciplinary collaborative process. Joy is a member of the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals, and the New York Association of Collaborative Professionals.
Collaborative Divorce
Depending on the dynamic of your relationship and the specific circumstances of your divorce, the collaborative process may be a better choice than mediation. More...