What is Collaborative Law?
Collaborative Law is a method of alternative dispute resolution wherein the parties commit to resolve their dispute out of court. Because parties to a divorce often need to have a continuing relationship due to co-parenting of children, Collaborative Law is ideally suited to divorce and other family law matters.
How is Collaborative Law Different?
A key difference between Collaborative Law and other forms of alternative dispute resolution, such as mediation, is the parties sign a participation agreement that sets out the parameters, including voluntary disclosure of financial information, mutual respect, insulating children from the dispute, sharing of experts such as mental health and financial professionals, and no litigation. Each party is represented by their own lawyer.
What are the Benefits of Collaborative Law?
The benefit of Collaborative Law is that you and your spouse or partner control the process and make final decisions; whereas, in litigation, the Judge controls the process and makes decisions for you. You also control the timetable which is most definitely not the case when you are involved in litigation. Collaborative Law is also private and litigation is not.
Collaborative Law is just now starting as a process in the Mobile area but has been taking place around the country and in Birmingham, Alabama, for several years. You can check out collaborativepractice.com for more information.
If Collaborative Law sounds like it may be right for your family, please contact us for a consultation. You can reach us by phone at 251-432-7909.