Collaborative Law & Collaborative Divorce

Collaborative divorce is a new trend sweeping the country. You may have seen it on the Today Show or Jane Pauley. You may have heard about it on Paul Harvey. Or you may have read about it in Money magazine, the Christian Science Monitor or in dozens of newspapers and magazines around North America. Collaborative law is practiced in almost every state in the US and many countries. Thousands of lawyers have been trained in collaborative law in the last decade.

Collaborative Law, Collaborative Divorce, and Collaborative Practice are names used to describe a new paradigm of law that focuses on a peaceful approach to resolving legal disputes. In collaborative law, the parties in a dispute and their attorneys agree that they will use problem-solving skills, not court, to resolve their conflicts. Each of the parties and their attorneys actually sign a contract agreeing that they won't go to court. Then, everyone works together to find a solution to the problems. Without the threat of court, everyone is able to "think outside the box" and create solutions that are unique to their situation, not necessarily what a judge will do but what will work for the highest good of all involved.

Collaborative lawyers often work in interdisciplinary teams and the term Collaborative Practice describes the team process. Collaborative Divorce is an interdisciplinary team approach to divorce where divorce coaches, a child specialist, and financial professionals work with the lawyers to resolve issues together.

At Healers of Conflicts Law & Conflict Resolution Center, we co-founded the first local group of Collaborative Lawyers in 2004. For more information about our local group, collaborative law, and collaborative divorce, see http://www.collablaw.org.

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Healers of Conflicts Law & Conflict Resolution Center
Mail to: P.O. Box 306, Asheville, North Carolina 28802 * Telephone: 828-253-3355 
jkimwright@healersofconflicts.com