Collaborative Law

Collaborative law is an evolving discipline that came out of pioneering work with divorce in the 1980s. In collaborative practice, parties hire lawyers who have had special training in ways to help parties work cooperatively to settle disputes out of court based on their needs and interests. In many cases, particularly those involving divorce, there is also a coach whose job is to help manage the strong emotions that come up during the process in order to keep the parties talking. The goal is for the process to be efficient, respectful, confidential and comprehensive.

Collaborative law is still best known as a divorce-related process. The International Academy of Collaborative Professionals has published a “Collaborative Divorce Knowledge Kit” with more information that you can download here. However, it is increasingly finding use in the civil world, with variations from the divorce model that depend on the type of case. See my recent article, Collaborative Law: A New Way to Resolve Civil Disputes. You can also find further information on the Massachusetts Collaborative Law Council website. I provide collaborative law services for both family and civil cases.

Using a collaborative law process is of the few ways that a party can have input into the type of attorney its counterpart retains: an attorney who is seeking to solve a problem, not scorch the earth.