ACR Arizona Chapter

Collaborative Practice is a process of resolving divorce and other legal disputes without litigation or a court trial, using cooperation and collaboration rather than adversarial techniques. It has been used primarily in the area of divorce, but it is beginning to be used in the civil arena in business, partnership, and consumer disputes.

The essence of Collaborative Practice is the commitment of the participants (including the collaborative attorneys, the clients, and any other professionals involved) to a dispute resolution process to settle all issues in a cooperative, honest, and open manner. In the event parties desire to "go to court," the Collaborative attorneys and all other collaborative professionals or experts withdraw from the case and clients must retain new attorneys and experts. By agreeing to the disqualification of counsel from litigation, clients and their Collaborative counsel are aligning everyone's interests toward a negotiated resolution.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does Collaborative Divorce Work?

The process usually begins with each party to the dispute hiring a Collaborative Practice attorney but you may begin by first meeting with a divorce coach, financial specialist or child specialist.  Collaborative practitioners use a full-team or modified team approach.  In the full team approach, the parties work with the Collaborative lawyers, financial specialist, divorce coach, and child specialist.  In the modified team approach, the financial specialist, divorce coach, and child specialist participate if needed.  Everyone agrees not to take the dispute to court and to instead resolve the issues in face to face meetings with the parties to the dispute, the Collaborative Practice attorneys and any other Collaborative Practice professionals needed to supply their expertise to the parties. When agreement is reached on all the issues in the divorce, the Collaborative Practice attorneys draft the Agreement that reflects the parties' decisions and which the parties submit to the Court for approval at the same time that they ask the Court to grant the divorce.

Who is a member of the Collaborative Divorce team and what training does each team member have?

* A Collaborative Law attorney for each client. The attorneys are pledged to help clients throughout your divorce by working cooperatively with the clients and the Collaborative Divorce team. They are committed to protecting client's rights, but serve as true legal counselors, educating, mediating and facilitating the legal process.

* A divorce coach who is a mental health professional for each client. The mental health professionals support clients through the process and work with them to help reduce the stress and strain of divorce. They will meet with clients individually and together to develop communication skills that will help them during and after your divorce.

* A neutral child specialist if there are minor children.  Because children are affected in different ways by a divorce, the child specialist meets with each of the children to see the divorce through their eyes, and assesses for the parents how each child is doing. The specialist then meets with both parents to give feedback, to answer any questions they may have, and to give input to help parents design a parenting plan that fits their unique needs.

* A neutral financial specialist trained in divorce financial planning. These certified divorce planners help clients gather and organize all financial inormation needed for the divorce process. They also help clients determine their immediate and long-term cash flow needs. As a neutral facilitator and educator, the planner helps clients and their collaborative attorneys fully understand the financial resources, and helps them determine what the financial future will hold, depending on the settlement options possible.

What are the benefits of collaborative practice?

The parties are each represented by attorneys trained in collaborative negotiation who help them negotiate in 4-way, 5-way or 6-way meetings in which both parties and counsel, coaches and/or other professionals participate.  Information is exchanged in a cooperative manner and experts are hired jointly, reducing cost.  The stress generated by the dispute is reduced because parties promise to take a reasoned stand on every issue and to negotiate in good faith and to try to find "win-win" solutions to their legitimate needs and interests.

The team members work together to make the collaborative process as easy for the parties as possible. Each team member is a specialist in his/her own field and thus can maximize client's resources and minimize the time and money spent.  Each hour that the team members spend is spent working directly on the client's case; there are no billable hours wasted on extraneous paperwork or sitting in court.

Clients, attorneys and other Collaborative professionals participate in a transparent process which enhances satisfaction of the parties and increases the likelihood of reaching agreements in less time and with less stress than going to court.

What are the costs for a Collaborative case?

The initial costs will be the retainer charged by the Collaborative attorneys and/or other collaborative professionals involved in the case. Each Collaborative professional is separately retained. When additional experts such as appraisers, business valuators, etc are retained, clients usually share the cost for the neutral professional. Unfortunately, no one can predict what the ultimate cost will be in a case because every case is different - some cases are simple; others are complex. In divorce cases, parties may be at different emotional stages or one party may be more knowledgeable about assets, debts and the family finances or parenting. To make sure that both parties have all the information they need to make informed decisions, more time with some of the Collaborative team members may be necessary, increasing the cost of the case.

How do I learn more about the Collaborative process?

There are Collaborative Divorce practice groups in the Phoenix metropolitan area and in Tucson/Southern Arizona. Please visit their websites to learn more about Collaborative law or to find a professional in your area:

In Phoenix -- http://www.collaborativedivorcearizona.com

In Tucson/Southern Arizona -- http://divorcewisely.com

Or visit the website for the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals (IACP) -- http://www.collaborativepractice.com

What is the difference between Collaborative Practice and Mediation?

In mediation, the parties meet with a neutral party, the Mediator, who helps facilitate discussion and resolution of all the issues in the dispute between the parties. The mediator does not give advice to either of the parties in mediation. If the parties choose, they may bring an attorney to their mediation session to obtain legal advice or may consult with their respective attorney between mediation sessions. At the conclusion of the mediation, the Mediator will typically draft an agreement that the parties bring to their attorneys for review and perhaps revision, before signing the agreement. In Collaborative Practice cases, the Collaborative Practice attorneys are present in all face to face sessions between the parties assuring a balanced process and easy access for each party to legal advice. At the end of the Collaborative process, the attorneys draft the agreement which reflects the decisions reached by the parties.