Collaborative Law

Collaborative Law is a relatively new system of dispute resolution in which the parties and their lawyers agree in advance that no one will take any contested issue to court. The group, which often includes mental-health and financial professionals, focuses all its attention on finding ways to restructure a family so that everyone involved gets their needs met to the greatest extent possible.

Positives: Collaborative Law operates from the perspective that most people want to move through family law matters as quickly and efficiently as possible. Most people do not want to harm their spouse and children, they just want to change their situation from the way it is to something they believe will work better. Collaborative Law eliminates much of the strategic game playing that often accompanies litigation, as well as the acrimony that is created when one person has to win and the other has to lose. In the unlikely event that clients are not able to settle their cases using the Collaborative Law model, litigation attorneys can still take the case to court.

Negatives: Collaborative Law is a voluntary process. No one can force another person to participate, or to act in good faith. Unscrupulous lawyers and clients sometimes try to use the Collaborative Law process to gain advantage over another person, never really intending to adhere to the principals and protocols of Collaborative Law. Clients with serious mental health issues may not be capable of participating in Collaborative Law to the extent necessary to reach a settlement using this model.

Experience Counts: Jennifer Tull is a leader in the Collaborative Law movement in Texas. She assumed duties as President of the Board of Trustees of the Collaborative Law Institute of Texas in the Spring of 2006. She has successfully guided more clients through the Collaborative process since 2001 than any other lawyer in the state. Learn more about Collaborative Family Law at http://www.collablawtexas.org.