BEGINNING ANEW COLLABORATIVELY Not all divorcing spouses want to engage in nasty court battles. Such is the case of Tyler Nelson and Pamela Burton, who decided to end their marriage on an amicable basis without consuming years in costly and contentious litigation. They decided to use a form of private dispute resolution known as collaborative divorce for their child’s sake, under the tutelage of trained professionals, to forge a new and different bond as co-parents for the rest of their lives. And, on September 20, 2013, they set a precedent as the first pro bono collaborative divorce ever completed in the state of Florida. [The term...
When a Collaborative Client Also Has a Therapist
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When a Collaborative client is in therapy as they go through their divorce, they will often say things such as: “My therapist thinks you guys don’t understand what a liar my husband is. She thinks I should consider hiring a different lawyer.” “My therapist doesn’t understand why my wife and I can’t meet with him to do our parenting plan.” “Could you talk to my therapist? I don’t know how to explain to her why this process is taking so long.” And it makes sense. They are linked up to the emotional life support offered by two simultaneous processes. And while these processes, therapy and Collaborative Practice, are both based on...
Navigating the Emotional Waters within Collaborati...
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The Collaborative Practice Team of Professionals as your “crew” when the sailing gets rough. ed. People are becoming increasingly vocal about the fact that lawyers and the legal system are not equipped to properly address the emotional issues involved in family law matters. Judge Michele Lowrance, a domestic relations judge in the Circuit Court of Illinois, wrote in her book titled The Good Karma Divorce (Lowrance, 2010), “The court system was not built to house these emotions, and attorneys are not trained to reduce this kind of suffering. Divorcing people expect relief far beyond what the legal realm can provide from their...
Integrating Clients’ Faith in the Collaborat...
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‘People of faith’ do face divorce. It can present them with additional challenges in terms of available support and in maintaining their very faith. It can seem as if they must leave their faith at the door as they enter the divorce process. Danette Perry, MBA, MSW, LSW, has been actively working within the Collaborative Practice process, along with other local professionals, to integrate clients’ faith and related concerns within the process. Within the Collaborative Practice approach there is a great opportunity to, as she puts it “…embrace our beliefs and integrate the virtues of our faith… [and...
Preventive Law and Collaborative Practice
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Once the clients have used my conflict resolution services “my job as a preventive lawyer is just beginning.” – Woody Mosten This attitude that our work is not ‘done’ simply because the clients are now divorced, or because the parties have reached an agreement, is a key part of the Paradigm Shift involved in Collaborative Practice. Having seen this connection in Woody’s chapter for the upcoming ABA book Reinventing the Practice of Law, I thought I would ask him to expand upon it. Here’s our chat. We’d love to continue this theme with the benefit of your comments! Click here to check out the...
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