When I joined my firm three years ago, the managing attorney, Adam B. Cordover, preferred and advocated for out-of-court dispute resolution, including collaborative practice. We still had many litigated cases. Not every client, spouse, and other attorney is willing to agree to a more peacemaking approach, especially when they don’t know much about it.  But we had faith that we were on to something, and that if given the opportunity and knowledge, more people would choose collaborative law. In 2015, we changed our name to Family Diplomacy: A Collaborative Law Firm, and began practicing exclusively in out-of-court dispute resolution,...

The Initial Interview.  The professional / client relationship begins there.  And goes smoothly – or haltingly – forward, or possibly downward.  Particularly in Collaborative Practice matters, that first meeting can impact the functioning of the entire Team, including the clients. I sat with Woody Mosten and Susan Gamache, two well known Collaborative professionals who have each begun to offer training for professionals focused on this critical, but often under explored, part of the process.  Here’s the video Read about the trainings they offer here: click on ‘slideshare’ to print your own copy of these....

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...

Sometimes lawyers and other professionals get into legal disputes. How do they handle those disputes?  What is it like to have them as clients?  What can we learn about ourselves as practitioners and what can we take from those experiences to make us better practitioners when we are working with other clients? Don’t forget to add your thoughts and questions in the comment section below. This is “Talking With….” Woody Mosten, 9 (Would you like to join us for a future conversation? We occasionally invite up to four people. Sign up here for our email list. We send out notices and details of when and how you can join in...